A Path Preordained
by Kszaszki
Summary: AU.InuKag.Humans and youkai split the world in two out of hatred, vowing to never coexist. Centuries later Kagome unwillingly finds herself at the edge of forbidden youkai territory; what's a teenage girl to do?
1. Her

**Summary: **Humans and youkai split the world in two out of hatred, vowing to never coexist. Centuries later Kagome unwillingly finds herself at the edge of forbidden youkai territory. What's a teenage girl to do?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.**

**A/N:** Hi again! So this is my second story and as promised, it'll be much less depressing than the first hehe. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>A Path Preordained<strong>

Chapter 1: Her

The sun above shined brightly in the cloudless sky. Its warm rays reflected off the small pond below, causing its cool waters to sparkle brilliantly like the stars of a clear night. A couple small orange and white fish could be seen swimming within its depths while a few white and yellow water lilies floated on the surface. The long, green grass that grew around it swayed back and forth gently while the seeds of dandelions flew up in the air as a pleasant breeze swept by. Not a single tree could be seen throughout the expanse of the field that surrounded the pond. The distant chirping of birds and the occasional splash of water or rustle of the long grass were the only sounds that filled the mid-day air.

A small brown spotted rabbit suddenly appeared at the edge of the pond and dipped its head downward to take a drink. One of its long, furry ears twitched forward in alert at the sound of approaching footsteps. As they got louder, the hare discontinued drinking and scurried back in the direction from where it first appeared.

A teenage girl carrying a bucket in each hand walked through the field. The wind blew through her long, ebony tresses; frustration reflected in her oceanic eyes. When she reached the pond the girl dropped the buckets on the ground and sat down with a sigh. She pulled her dark blue robes up to her knees and began to unlace the black leather sandals she had on. Once off, the teenager laid them beside the buckets and slowly dipped both her petit feet into the cool water.

Pleased with how refreshing the water felt the girl stretched her arms toward the sky. Then, with her arms still in the air she leaned backward and laid on the ground, her hair fanning out over the grass beneath. She basked in the warming sunlight, wishing she could lay there for the rest of the day.

But unfortunately, soon she would have to return. Everyone in the village was so caught up with preparing for the festival she managed to sneak away. If someone found her here dozing off she'd be in trouble…again.

One more responsibility lecture from her grandfather would surely drive her insane.

She closed her eyes and gave a breathy laugh. She could hear him now.

'Kagome! What were you thinking? The festival is only a month away! You can't just run off like that! You still fail to understand the concept responsibility! Can't you be helpful at least this once? The high priestess is coming to our village for god sake! What will she think when she sees you? You're a disgrace!'

Kagome chuckled at the vision of her grandfather waving his arms in the air frantically as he shouted at her. Everyone was just too uptight. Couldn't they relax a little? So what if the high priestess was coming? What's so special about her?

She could only imagine the look on her grandfather's face if she asked that, he was the village priest after all. Ironic that his granddaughter was probably the only person in the village unexcited about the high priestess' arrival. Why get so worked up over one person?

It was times like these when she thanked the gods for having a younger brother. Now Souta would have to become the next village priest instead of her. She softly laughed at the thought of being a priestess. She couldn't perform even the simplest of magics. Her grandfather tried teaching her but it was a wasted effort.

Kagome stretched her arms once again and sat up. She looked at her reflection in the water.

Why was she so different from everyone else? Why couldn't anyone have the same opinion as her for once? Why wouldn't anyone take her seriously?

Maybe it was because she was a failure at everything she tried. Magic just wouldn't work. Even the forest animals wouldn't eat her cooking. The clothing she tried to make looked as if they had been chewed up. The pottery she made well…..let's not go there.

Yes, one day Kagome would surely make a marvelous wife.

Kagome yawned. She slowly laid back down on the ground as her eyes closed.

…..

Kagome's eyes opened slowly and she blinked a few times. After taking a moment to gather her thoughts she sat up frantically and looked up. To her relief, the sun was still positioned high in the sky. She exhaled slowly while she rubbed her eyes; trying to fully wake herself up.

After a few minutes, the teenager took her feet out of the pond and began putting her sandals back on. _'I didn't get caught yet so best not push my luck,'_ Kagome mused before she finished lacing her sandals and reluctantly stood up with a soft grunt. She adjusted her robes back into place and picked up the two buckets.

She took one step forward away from the pond but then suddenly stopped and looked back down at it. _'Well, I'm already here so….'_Kagome bent down and filled the buckets with water from the pond._'Pond water, well water, what's the difference? Mother said to get water…..and this is 'water.'_

As she continued walking, Kagome enjoyed the peacefulness of the sunny field; admiring the wild flowers that grew among the grass in several different colors. She sighed in dismay as a small village appeared in the horizon.

Not before long, Kagome reached the town's entrance. The tranquility of the open field contrasted sharply to the tumult of the bustling village. Everyone was running errands for the festival. Kagome walked along the narrow, congested dirt streets that winded in between the small shops and stands of the marketplace. The smell of warm, fresh bread, pastries, apples and other foods wafted in the air.

Yep, everyone was pulling all the stops for this year's festival. After all, the high priestess was coming.

Kagome continued walking until she reached a thankfully more quiet part of the village. The dirt roads of the market place were now flat pieces of stone that were laid out forming a path on lush green grass. Many large trees grew in between the small brick houses that were spread out across the area, providing ample shade from the afternoon sun.

Kagome walked to one of the larger houses and opened its heavy wooden door. She stepped inside on the floor which was covered by a rug, its colors badly faded from several years of use. The light from the midday sun filled the house through its several windows.

A middle-aged woman with short black hair was sitting at a sturdy wood table, sewing what looked like an elaborate robe. She looked up as Kagome entered. "What took you so long? The well isn't that far away." She raised her eyebrow questionably.

"Nice to see you too mom." Kagome replied flatly, "You know how busy it is now a days. There were a lot of people at the well. It took a while to wait my turn." The teenager set the two buckets down next to the door slowly.

"I see. Anyway, I have another errand for you." Kagome's mother stopped her sewing temporarily and pointed her finger toward a pedestal that stood next to the now dormant, brick fire place across the room. "In that pouch is some money. Go to the tailor's and buy enough blue and silver silk for two robes. And make sure you try to get a decent deal." She said before she resumed sewing.

Kagome rolled her eyes as she grabbed the small brown leather pouch. "All right, I'll be back soon." She sighed. Kagome hated bargaining with shop keepers.

She walked out the door without waiting for a reply from her mother. Once outside, Kagome began to trudge back to the marketplace, a scowl on her face. The festival was beginning to seem like far more trouble than it was worth.

She was so wrapped up in her fuming that she didn't notice the skinny, brown haired boy that was currently trying to catch her attention.

"Higurashi!" The boy shouted as he waved his arms in front of her face.

"AHH!" Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Sorry Kagome, but you weren't paying attention." The boy apologized as Kagome held her hand over her heart, trying to calm herself down from the surprise.

'_Oh great….Hojo. Just what I needed.'_ "That's ok Hojo. What is it?" Kagome said with slight annoyance.

"Well I...uhh," Hojo stumbled over his words nervously; "I wanted to give you these." He said quickly before pulling out about six white roses tied together with a piece of string.

The girl stared at the flowers in surprise. _'He's been doing this for years! Curse my conscience! I just don't have the heart to tell him to buzz off._

_But is it so hard to take the time to find out a girl's favorite flower? I don't even really like roses! Now only if I could find a guy I really liked…..yeah he would give me flowers.'_She sighed dreamily._'But not roses, he would get those small blue ones I found in a field once. Those were beautiful. If only…Oh gods, look at me! I'm turning into a hopeless romantic!'_Kagome snapped out of her train of thought and focused her attention back on Hojo. "Thanks." She said unenthusiastically before quickly taking the flowers.

Hojo smiled as he observed Kagome's reaction. His worries that she would think the flowers were too much were cast aside as soon as that dreamy look reached her eyes. His chest swelled with pride at the accomplishment.

The dorky smile on Hojo's face worried Kagome. Maybe she was giving him the wrong idea? What if he thought she liked him?

That would not do.

"Thanks Hojo you're a really good FRIEND. I'm glad I have a FRIEND like you." Kagome said putting large emphasis on the word friend. "I gotta go now," she turned around and practically ran in the direction of the marketplace, silently hoping that Hojo finally got the picture.

But Hojo remained where he stood, the dorky smile still plastered on his face. Kagome's attempt to show him she didn't like him failed miserably.

He was a little too dense for his own good.

…

Shades of pink, orange, and red filled the sky as the sun began to sink in the horizon.

" I thought that woman would never run out of errands."Kagome muttered under her breath as she walked out of her house. She had spent almost the entire day helping her mother get ready for the festival. "Now that I have some free time, I can go visit Ayami."

Kagome walked toward a small house that was situated on the far end of the area; right before the forest began. When she reached it Kagome knocked on the door softly.

"Who is it?" said a kind feminine voice from the house.

"It's me, Kagome." A slight rustle could be heard from inside before the door opened. A petit woman with dark hair that reached her waistline stood in the doorway. She smiled when she saw Kagome.

"Hello Kagome. I haven't seen you in a while. Busy with the festival I take it?" The woman asked.

"Hi Ayami. Yeah, I spent the past few days doing nothing but running errands." Kagome grumbled.

"Yes, I've been busy too. Well, come on in." Ayami invited.

"Thanks." Kagome said before she stepped in and Ayami closed the door behind her. Kagome took in the familiar sight of Ayami's small home. The house was composed of two rooms; the bedroom and the great room. The great room held a kitchen and a sitting area; separated by a brick half-wall. Ever since she was little Kagome would always come over. She remembered when Ayami first came to the village; she was only six years old.

_-Flashback-_

_A little Kagome holding a small woven basket filled with several types of fruits skipped through the market place while humming softly. Her grandfather asked her to get some food for diner and now she was heading home._

"_Someone get help! Call a doctor!" yelled a voice coming from the village's gate. Kagome stopped short. What happened? Who needed help? She turned around and walked in the direction of where the voice was coming from._

_Upon arriving at the gate, Kagome saw several people crowded around in a circle. The little girl became curious and headed toward the crowd. Kagome squeezed herself through the legs of the onlookers and soon reached the center. She gasped in shock at what she saw._

_A woman, probably in her mid twenties, laid unconsciously on the ground. The ensemble she wore was torn all the way up to her knees and its sleeves were completely gone. There was a tattered brown sandal on one of her feet while the other was bare. The woman's long, dark hair draped messily over her shoulders and partially covered her tear-stained face. Several gashes and cuts that were bleeding very badly marred her entire body._

"_Make way!" yelled a man's voice from outside the crowd. The people immediately moved aside and let him pass through. He was a rather old man, his hair grey and his eyes sagging with many wrinkles. He carried a large brown basket that was filled with several medical supplies._

_The man bent down next to the woman and began sifting through the items in his basket. He lifted his head up momentarily. "Someone get water!" He yelled before he looked back down at his basket and pulled out a large, white cloth. He turned to the unconscious women and gently pressed two of his fingers against her neck. After a few moments he lifted his fingers with a sigh of relief._

_A middle aged man carrying a bucket filled with water pushes his way through the mass of people still surrounding the woman and the doctor. Once he made it through, the man set it next to the doctor. The doctor gave a slight nod in thanks and dipped the white cloth into the water. He took the now damp cloth and began to gently clean the wounds of the injured woman. After the excess blood and dirt had been removed, the doctor discarded the white cloth and began to wrap the wounds with bandages he retrieved from the basket._

_Kagome almost couldn't bear to watch as the poor woman winced while her wounds were being cleansed and bandaged. She must have been in a lot of pain. The doctor had finished wrapping the wounds and wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his brow._

"_She lost a lot of blood, but she should be okay." The old man said. "We need to take her inside. Can anyone help me carry her?" Two people emerged from the crowd and bent down next to the woman. "All right that'll do. Now we must be gentle, she's in a lot of pain. On three, one, two three!" The doctor said with a grunt as the three of them gently picked the woman up. The crowd separated, allowing them to pass through. They slowly stepped forward, making sure they weren't causing the woman too much pain._

_Kagome watched as they walked off holding the woman. She decided that she should do something to make her feel better. Kagome smiled, the field right outside of town did have beautiful wildflowers._

_-End Flashback-_

It wasn't until much later that Kagome found out what happened to Ayami. Apparently, she was traveling with her husband and her son and were unfortunately attacked by youkai. Ayami was the only one who survived. After she stumbled on to the village and recovered from her wounds, Ayami decided to stay in the village. She had no other family to go to.

Kagome had never asked much about the woman's family. She was reticent in bringing up such a topic and always gotten the impression that the woman was not inclined to bring it up once again.

Kagome was thankful that Ayami stayed. She was like a mother to her. Ayami was the only one she could really talk to, or tolerate.

"Would you like to take a seat Kagome?" Ayami asked, pointing to the small table in the corner of the great room.

"Sure." Kagome nodded. Kagome went over and sat down while Ayami took a seat in the chair across from her.

"So how are you?" Ayami asked.

"I'm fine. I just can't wait until the festival is over though. There's just too much going on." Kagome complained as she rested her chin on her hand.

Ayami nodded. "It has been pretty busy around here lately."

The two talked for a while about several different topics. But not before long, Kagome had to return home for dinner.

"I'm home!" Kagome walked into the house. Her mother, who was currently setting the table for diner made no acknowledgment of Kagome besides lifting her head up for a moment.

"Hey Kagome!" said a little black-haired boy as he ran up to her.

"Hi Souta." She said as she patted her brother on the head.

He put his hands on top of his head and ducked away from her. "Don't do that!" He scowled.

Kagome chuckled. "Is grandfather back yet?"

"Nope he isn't here." Souta responded.

Kagome sighed in relief. She didn't feel like listening to her grandfathers ramblings. She broke away from her thoughts as the front door opened behind her. _'So much for avoiding him,'_ Kagome thought in dismay.

A short, gray haired old man walked through. "Hi Grandpa!" Souta said as their grandfather closed the door behind him.

"Hello Souta, Kagome." The grandfather said.

"Hi," Kagome mumbled.

"Didja get any youkai today with your scrolls?" Souta said excitedly.

The old man laughed, "No Souta, youkai don't attack for any reason whatsoever."

"But why not? Nothing exciting ever happens!" the boy said, seeming disappointed.

"Well I guess they would more often if there was a jewel shard in the village." The grandfather replied.

"Huh?" Souta furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You haven't heard about the jewel shards?" the old man asked, thoroughly surprised. Souta shook his head. "Well it's about time you did."

'_Great I have to hear this one again.'_ Kagome sighed.

"You can tell him while we eat dinner, it's ready." Kagome and Souta's mother said as she finished setting the table. Kagome, Souta, their grandfather, and their mother all sat at their usual seats at the table.

Kagome began eating. _'Well at least the food will entertain me through his boring story.'_

"Well Souta," the man began, "humans and youkai have been fighting ever since they both originated. As hundreds and hundreds of years passed by, the fighting only got worse. It came to the point where the World was split in two, one side for the youkai and the other for humans."

"Wow!" Souta exclaimed. "So does that means there was like a wall down the middle of the Earth?"

Kagome gave a breathy laugh at Souta's childishness. "No Souta," the grandfather corrected, "it was an imaginary border. The humans and youkai hated each other so much that they isolated themselves from the other."

"Oh. But what does this have to do the 'jewel shards' things?" Souta asked.

'_Absolutely nothing, he just wants to make the story longer than it really is. I've never meet another person that loves to hear themselves talk as much as him.'_Kagome pondered.

"Well, I'm getting to that. Just be patient." The grandfather said in a huff. Kagome leaned her cheek on her left palm and continued to eat with her other hand.

"Kagome, sit up straight." Her mother scolded. With a sigh Kagome lifted her head up and sat upright. "Thank you."

"Anyway, I was saying that they isolated themselves from one another. Aside from a few instances, this was the case for many, many years. However, several things happened that caused the humans and demons to go into war once again. One of the reasons is that demons started to become more organized. They realized that they would be stronger if they worked together against the humans. With this advantage, they thought that they could be able to defeat the humans," the grandfather explained.

"But what about the jewel shards!" Souta whined.

Kagome bit her tongue in order to stop herself from bursting out laughing at her grandfather's murderous expression. She knew he hated being interrupted. _'I guess Souta's impatience can be a good thing once in a while.'_ Kagome figured.

"I was just getting to that Souta. Now will you please be quiet so I can finish?" The grandfather said with steam practically coming out of his ears. Souta gulped loudly and nodded. "All right," the old man cooled down, "Another reason for the isolation to cease was the sudden appearance of several jewel shards. These shards were able to give both demons and humans amazing power ups. A single shard could probably make you ten times more powerful."

"Wow! I want one! I'll be Souta, The Youkai Exterminator!" Souta exclaimed flexing the bicep muscles he didn't have.

The grandfather pointed his finger at Souta accusingly, "No, you don't!"

"I don't?" Souta asked, confused.

"Anyone who has a jewel shard is in great danger! Do you know how many youkai would come after you? They'd kill you!" The man berated.

"Oh." Souta looked down.

"Well as I was saying, these jewel shards were scattered across the land. Both humans and youkai wanted them to become stronger. So it became a race. Whoever gained the most jewel shards would win the war with the strength of the shards," the grandfather explained, "But, you see after years of searching, the humans and youkai realized that finding the shards was much harder than previously expected. So the search died down a little, but humans and youkai still fight over the ones that were found. That brings us to where we are now. The jewel shards are still out there, waiting to be discovered."

"All that time and no one still found them all?" Souta asked in disbelief.

"It's a big world out there, and the shards are very small," the old man explained, putting his thumb and pointer finger a small distance away from each other. "But there's a secret about the shards that not many know."

"What is it? Tell me!" Souta almost jumped out of the seat from excitement.

'_At least someone likes his stories.'_Kagome thought.

"Well, it is said that the jewel shards actually formed one single jewel at one time. It was called the Shikon Jewel. And if you were to collect all the jewel shards to form the Shikon Jewel once again, then you could make any wish you want on it," the old man said.

"That's awesome!" Souta proclaimed.

"Well since you heard the story, now you can eat." Souta and Kagome's mother said as she pointed to Souta's plate, which hadn't been touched.

"All right." Souta sighed before he started to eat.

Soon after her grandfather had finished telling the story, Kagome had finished. "Thank you. I'm really worn out, so I'm going to go to bed early." She said before standing up and leaving the table.

Kagome walked across the great room and went upstairs, into the bedroom. Kagome laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. _'Another exciting day.'_She thought before drifting into sleep.

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><p><strong>AN: So what did you guys think? Any good?**

**Till next time!**


	2. Two Paths

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Two: Two Paths

A large monster-like figure stood in the middle of the town. Kagome gazed at it measuringly as several men were putting the finishing touches on it. Every year, the town built a large youkai and would begin the festival with a symbolic burning of the object.

The statue stood far taller than anyone around it, with large menacing eyes, fangs, and multi-colored scales adorned all over its body. The figure never varied too much from year to year; no one in the town was really quite sure what a youkai exactly looked like; aside from myths and the tales of travelers. Kagome also was largely unaware of the characteristics of the creature.

The town, in fact, was not too far away from youkai territory. The forests only about a half days' walk away signaled the border between the two. And yet, everyone in the town lived rather peacefully. No one made attempts to get involved in any fighting over territory or jewel shards, so the town lived on quietly with little change over years and years.

Kagome sighed and turned away from the statue. She received a bag of apples from the merchant standing on the other side of the rather makeshift-looking stand. Preparations for the festivals were still in full swing and the raven haired girl had been recruited as her family's errand runner, coerced into taking several trips to town and back each day. She sighed once again, remembering her mother's words to her.

"Kagome, you can't cook or sew! If you're so upset, then you should have thought twice before skirting the lessons I gave you."

She entered her home quite angrily, putting more force into opening the door than necessary, causing it to slam loudly against the adjacent wall. To her confusion, she saw her grandfather and Hojo happily chatting away inside.

Her grandfather looked over and gave a very uncharacteristic smile in her direction. "Kagome! Wonderful news!" He exclaimed, lifting his arms up with enthusiasm. Hojo stood next to him, grinning like an enamored child.

Before she could question her grandfather's oddly genial behavior towards her, he resumed. "I never thought it would happen, but we've found you a fiancée!"

Kagome's blood ran cold as she stared at the two with utter disbelief. She opened her mouth as if to say something but the girl couldn't muster any words to form. She pressed her lips together and her gaze shifted between the two men standing in front of her as a feeling of dread welled up in the pit of her stomach.

While Kagome was still registering the new development, Hojo approached her and clasped one of her hands in between his own. "I came to ask your grandfather for his blessing." He explained with a truly jovial look reflected in his eyes.

"Ha Ha Ha!" Kagome's grandfather laughed heartily as he stood near the couple. "This is absolutely wonderful! Just think, we'll be able to have a wedding ceremony during the festival. Kagome, with luck the high priestess will be the one to marry you!" He placed his hands on both Hojo's and Kagome's backs, pushing the two even closer together.

Kagome closed her eyes with discomfort at Hojo's constricting proximity. She turned her head to the side, wary that their noses were practically touching. As soon as the old man released his grip, Kagome stepped back and pulled her hand from the unwanted embrace and rubbed it against her upper arm awkwardly.

"I'll just let you to lovebirds talk amongst yourselves for a while. I have so much planning to do! We have so little time!" He gleefully bounced up the stairs and soon was out of sight.

Kagome gazed down at the floor hopelessly. "When did you decide to do this, Hojo?" She asked quietly, barley above a whisper. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"We've known each other for so long," Hojo grabbed both her hands for another embrace and lifted them up in between him and Kagome, "I don't know how it happened so fast but look at us, we're already adults. We can start our own lives together."

Kagome kept silent with a small frown. She was having a difficult time keeping track of this little speech. The thought of an entire life with him returned no other reaction from her than endless boredom.

"I felt it was finally time. It's a big step, so I understand if you want to be alone for a little." With that, he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips to which Kagome couldn't help but flinch. Hojo gave another small smile, lightly laid his hand on his fiancée's cheek, and walked out the door without another word, never feeling so joyous in his life.

As the door closed behind her the dark sense of hopeless that engulfed Kagome dispersed and was replaced with a seething rage from deep within. Her jaw clenched as the enormity of the situation fully hit her. Not bearing to stay inside the place where her future had been so violated, she left as quickly as possible.

Villagers busy with chores looked oddly at the dark haired girl who was marching angrily through the village. Her two hands formed into fists so tight that her nails begun to dig into her palm. She continued to trudge through the village until she found herself in its outskirts, where no one else was in sight.

Kagome closed her eyes and promptly screamed at the top of her lungs. Nearby trees started to rustle as birds quickly flew out of them, away from the earsplitting sound. Soon the girl ran out of breath and gasped deeply.

She began marching back and forth restlessly and roughly grabbed her own hair. "Ask for his blessing? What about mine? It's my life they're throwing away like this." She stopped abruptly and yelled furiously, "No, no, no!" while shaking her head.

She found herself staring at the same wild flowers she admired only days before. "Stupid white roses, stupid Hojo…" Kagome muttered, kicking at the dirt angrily. She stood and place and pressed her hand to her lips. "And who does he think he is just kissing me like that?"

Kagome looked up at the sky, seeking an answer to escape her newfound misery. "This isn't supposed to happen. I'm not supposed to stay in the village and become run-of-the-mill house wife Kagome." She spoke to unhearing ears more quietly and fell onto her hands and knees.

Tears began escaping her eyes. "What about the adventures I'm supposed to have? This can't be all that's meant for me. A mediocre husband, mediocre house, mediocre life….and I'm supposed to be happy?" She stared at the ground, not knowing what to do next. She ran her fingers through the short grass, contemplating silently.

"Maybe it won't be so bad? Everyone settles for something at one point or another, right?" After a moment of silence, Kagome shook her head violently, "No! Who am I kidding? I just can't live with this."

The tortured girl stood up once again and wiped her eyes. "And now I'm talking to myself… no this isn't going to happen," she remarked once again, starting to walk back towards the village.

Kagome found herself in front of Ayami's door. Knocking on it quickly she spoke in an almost pleading tone, "Ayami, please open the door."

She heard hurried noises beyond the entrance and soon found a small woman wearing a worried expression. "Come in, Kagome." She invited immediately.

Kagome nodded gratefully and sat down at the small wooden table. "Kagome, what happened?" Ayami asked as she pulled out a chair and sat next to her."

Kagome couldn't hold back a few tears that escaped her eyes. "Hojo asked my grandfather for my hand in marriage," she spat the words out hatefully.

"He did not think to ask you alone first?" Ayami offered a reassuring hand on Kagome's arm.

Kagome sniffed and wipes one of her eyes. "No, and I don't want to but grandpa's already making arrangements, thinking it's a miracle someone would even want me," the tears began to fall more steadily down Kagome's cheeks.

"Its okay, Kagome." The woman gave a warm smile and brushed a stray hair out of Kagome's face. "He's not the one for you and you don't have to commit yourself to that."

"But how? How can I just say no? My family would never accept me again."

"Sometimes," Ayami paused and looked out the window behind Kagome, "sometimes you have to make sacrifices to do what you think is right. My parents were set on me marrying a man I didn't love also."

The teenager looked up quickly. Ayami never mentioned anything about the past to her before. "I was ready to make the best of the ordeal and give in," Ayami shook her head as a sad smile formed, "But then I met my future husband."

Kagome listened intently. "I quickly found I was deeply in love with a person my family would never approve of. I was torn, but it didn't take long for me to choose to tell my parents the truth; that I refused to marry the man they matched for me and that I had found another."

"What happened?"

"Well," Ayami folded her hands in her lap, "they spared no time in disowning me and I never saw them again."

Kagome's hand covered her mouth, "Ayami I'm so sorry."

Ayami smiled at the girl she saw so much of herself in. "It's all right; I have never, even for a second, regretted my decision. I spent ten years with true love and it was worth it." Her smile faded and she took a more serious tone, "The point is, Kagome, that you shouldn't let other people decide something so crucial for you. If you really feel strongly about this, well, then I think you know what you must do."

Kagome looked down and played with the ends of her robe silently. Did she really have it in her to go through with it? Sure she was never happy in her village, but to run away and start over with nothing and no one?

"When you were disowned," Kagome began, "how did you get by on your own?"

Ayami tilted her head slight and gave a sad smile, "It was difficult. But I wasn't on my own. I found someone who was worth all the relationships I had lost." She leaned closer to Kagome and grabbed her fiddling hands, "But I'm not going to gloss it over for you, dear. It's extremely painful losing everyone in your life and not being able to turn back."

She paused and looked at Kagome in the eyes, "Think of it this way; if you don't leave and marry Hojo, will you regret it? Never live your life in regret. Mine has been far from easy but at least I am at peace with the choices I made."

Kagome nodded and grinned, "How is it you always know what to say? I would regret it completely." The young girl gathered herself, "I'm going to leave tonight," she announced resolutely.

Ayami didn't seem surprised and padded Kagome's hand reassuringly, "There is a village, east of here. If you follow the dirt path there, it should lead you straight to it. But," Ayami raised a finger, "you must wait until dawn. If you leave then you should reach the village only a few hours after sunset. It will be hard, but you shouldn't rest before you get there, the forests surrounding the paths can be dangerous."

Kagome swallowed loudly at the daunting task. She couldn't help questioning herself as to whether she would be able to do this. "Those forests…..they're in youkai territory, aren't they?" She inquired, though dreading the upcoming answer.

"Yes they are." Kagome slumped over slightly, her chances of being able to do this were dwindling lower and lower. "But not all youkai will harm you, remember that, Kagome." The teenager looked at Ayami questioningly.

"They are good and bad, just like humans. But that doesn't mean you should let your guard down." The young girl furrowed her eyebrows at the information. It was the first time in her life she had heard anything remotely positive about the demonic creatures. It was especially surprising coming from a woman whose family as killed by them, but Kagome did not want to press the sensitive subject.

"There is an old priestess who resides in the village by the name of Kaede. Tell her I sent you and she will provide you with shelter. Just don't stay there too long. It's too close to here." Ayami stood up and walked to the backroom of the house with the slight limp she had never managed to rid herself of after being attacked.

When she returned she carried an old bow and a quiver of arrows. "I know it's not much, but it might come in useful."

Kagome stood and took the weapon from Ayami. "Thank you so much."

Ayami then hugged the raven haired adolescent and said softly, "I know you'll find what you're looking for. Just please be careful."

Emerging from the embrace, Kagome smiled and headed for the door. "Kagome," Ayami started as she grabbed the door knob. The girl turned around. "Remember not to stray from the path. Some youkai are indeed trustworthy but they come in short supply."

Kagome nodded. "I'll see you again, Ayami."

When the teenager left, Ayami stood where she was for a moment, hoping she didn't push Kagome in the direction she wasn't intended to take.

…..

Kagome placed the bow Ayami had given her underneath her bed and then sat down with a fatigued sigh. So much had happened that day, she was to be wed and now she was going to run away.

Thinking back to Ayami's past, Kagome realized how much a like they were. She admired the woman's decision and was determined to follow her example. "I'll find what I'm looking for," she murmured.

But why had she told her such a thing about youkai? Never had she heard that there was a single one to be approachable, let alone trusted. Was there something about the woman that she didn't know?

"Kagome, dinner!" She heard her mom's muffled voice coming from downstairs.

The meal was tense for Kagome, to say the least. She could not resolve herself to look at her grandfather or mother as they happily celebrated her upcoming wedding. Souta was mostly silent, a feat very unusual for him. Kagome felt guilty, but was already set on the path chosen. Every time she was presented with what was planned for her here, her decision only became more absolute. Until her mother chimed in.

The woman took a break from her food and fixed her gaze at Kagome. "I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I want you to know that I am proud of you, my daughter."

The girl in question nearly choked on her food after her parent's admission. She coughed for a moment, trying to clear her throat and swallowed loudly. "Thanks mom," she managed in a raspy tone.

Her mother rarely said anything so kind to her.

But she went on, "I thought I could never bridge our differences, but perhaps we can manage it. You're finally growing up," she admitted and gave a loving look Kagome hadn't seen since her early childhood.

Kagome tilted her eyes upward to stop the impending tears. _'You would regret it, you would regret it, you would regret it.'_ She chanted mentally.

Her response was limited to smiling at her mother, unable to form any words.

"We can see how my old wedding dress fits tomorrow."

Kagome forced an even wider smile that was beginning to seem more maniacal than anything else. Why mother had chosen this second to be so kind, she would never understand.

"Hey Kagome," Souta chimed from the opposite end of the table, "Can I be the ring bearer?"

Kagome's eye widened even more and the double onslaught. Maybe she wasn't strong enough after all. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth. "Sure Souta good idea! Say, this food was really great. I'm so full. Great dinner mom. Hey look at that I'm pretty tired, long day you know? Ok off to bed good night," she got out in a few seconds and ran upstairs as quickly as she could.

Kagome's grandfather frowned, "She must be excited."

…

Kagome sat up from her bed. The sky was slowly filling with light as the sun rose closer and closer to the horizon. Grabbing her bows and provisions she had prepared earlier, she walked up to the stairs but stopped before continuing down.

Dinner last night had been a disaster. She was so ready, so sure. Leaving was so much simpler when she had thought her family would not miss her at all. But she had already made her decision and it was too late to turn back now. There was one thing she was positive of, and that was the regret she'd always suffer if she did stay.

She lingered there for a moment and then proceeded outside the house where she was raised. She took in everything in her village for one last time. It was so peaceful out. Kagome could hardly believe it was the same village. The purplish-blue light of early morning made the town so much more charming, giving it almost an ethereal quality. The distant sounds of birds rang in cool, clean air that calmed Kagome as she breathed it in. "This is a good way to remember you." She announced to no one.

As she began walking along the dirt path, she admired looking at the vast field and the far off forests in the dawn's light.

Kagome looked at the path ahead of her. Although her determination faltered slightly, she continued forward.

…..

The unforgiving sun blazed against Kagome's skin. The dark haired teenager wiped the sweat forming on her brow and continued walking. She grabbed a brown, leather canteen from her small bag and swallowed the water inside, savoring its cool taste in her mouth.

The unreal and calming effect of the morning had been cast away by the harsh sun and humid air, bringing forth the reality of what Kagome had done to her life. Every time she thought of the village that she left behind, perhaps forever, a pain shot through her heart. She would miss Ayami, Souta, her mother…..and even grandfather.

She pictured her mother, looking around in their dusty storage area for her old wedding dress, excited to see how her daughter filled it out.

Kagome sighed. She tried with all her will power to hold onto the thought of regret. It had been the rock that allowed her to actually go through with running away; but now the idea was becoming weaker and weaker in her mind. Kagome called it forth again and again, trying to make it offer her the reassurance it once did.

She had never realized until this point how selfish the choice was of her. But on the other hand, how could she not be selfish about her own life?

Kagome mind raced with these thoughts for miles, continuing on the endless dirt path. She was in hell, but she could not stop until she reached the village. Everything would be better once she reached the village; the girl forced herself to believe.

Suddenly, her rhythmic walking stopped. She looked over to the forest in the distance. There was something there, a soft light among the trees. It was calling her, softly whispering to come to it. Kagome stilled at the odd sensation. The object was pulling her to it. Her hand reached out almost in need. It consumed her; and soon nothing else seemed to matter besides the mysterious summoning.

Recalling Ayami's warning, she gazed at the old, looming trees cautiously. Humans weren't allowed in those forests, it was far too dangerous.

As if the object could read Kagome's thoughts, its calling became louder, reverberating through her as if a large bell was ringing inside of her. It became painful to stay in place. Her body ached to move forward.

At that moment Kagome forgot why she couldn't go get it. She raked her mind for the reason she was hesitant to retrieve it but the calling made it impossible to think. Nothing else mattered except getting the object. It belonged to her. Yes, it was hers.

Kagome took a step towards the woods. Her feet began to move faster and faster, by a force that was not completely her own.

Before she could realize, Kagome was standing at the forest's edge. She looked up at the ancient trees; she recalled they were some sort of barrier. The girl furrowed her brows together to try and think why she could not pass these trees.

But the calling continued to grow louder and louder in Kagome's mind. With reluctance, the nervous girl entered the forest. She pushed aside the thick vines and branches and continued to follow the soft humming reverberating in her head. Kagome winced in discomfort as sand and pebbles from the forest floor became wedged between her foot and sandal.

She managed to stumble through the thick foliage and came to a clearing. Small amounts of sun filtered through the hundred year old branches above. The strange glow she had followed shown dimly in the middle of the field between the blades of grass. She approached slowly, knelt down and touched it lightly. As soon as she touched it, the calling stopped. She picked up the object with her hand and examined it.

It looked like a broken shard of glass. It was a purplish-pink color and gave off a ghostly aura. "What…..is this?" Kagome said softly with puzzlement, not wanting to consider the ominous answer she held in her head.

She put the object in her robe and then stood up with a start. It was as if a haze had just lifted and she sobered into the harsh reality once again. She was in youkai territory, if she didn't leave now she would die.

"Well, look what we have here," grunted an inhumanly deep, bone rattling voice from behind her.

Kagome turned around quickly. She feared for her life.

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><p><strong>AN: **Sorry for the cliffhanger... couldn't help myself haha. Look for chapter three soon!


	3. Him

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and here's the next chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Him<p>

The sounds of several animals rousing from their sleep rung throughout the forest as the rising sun began to filter through its trees. Birds chirped from their nests high above the ground while rabbits, squirrels and other animals rustled through the damp grass. It was a thick forest, abundant in greenery and there was absolutely no type of civilization anywhere in eyesight.

Contrasting sharply to the greens and browns of the forest was a red clad figure, laying up high on a sturdy branch of a tree.

His features were relaxed in slumber. His arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the tree trunk, hands tucked in to the baggy sleeves of his red haori. A dark purple rosary adorned by a few white fangs dangled around his neck and fell slightly over his shoulder. He had dark eyebrows which sculpted his face and his closed eyes were gently twitching. The boy had a straight nose, in perfect proportion with the rest his features.

A few wisps of long silver hair hung over his shoulders while most of it was tucked in between his back and the tree which he leaned on. Perched atop his mane were two pointed dog ears, moving slightly to the sounds of the forest.

Suddenly the teenager's eyes shot open in alarm and he nearly fell out of the tree. He looked around for a few seconds before beginning to relax.

He leaned back against the tree trunk while muttered something about "damn nightmares". Relaxing once again after a moment, the silver haired boy closed his eyes once again, attempting to fall into slumber once more.

When a few minutes passed and he found himself still awake, he sat up and mumbled a curse under his breath. He looked around the forest and sighed with boredom. Knowing he would not get any more sleep the boy leaped out of the tree with astonishing grace and landed on the ground below with hardly a sound.

He walked leisurely through the forest for who knows how long, wearing the same bored expression. He scanned the familiar area as he did several times before. "Well everything looks all right…" he mumbled to himself as his pace slowed, "Guess it's time to go back then."

As he passed by a small river running through the forest, he stopped. A terrified shriek rang through the woods. The silver haired boy's ears perked up as he listened intently. He picked up another sound, this one deeper than the desperate exclamation, but was unable to catch the words it carried.

The silver haired youth smirked, "Finally, something interesting."

As curiosity got the best of him, the odd looking boy found himself running towards the two sounds at an inhuman speed. He darted through the trees and stopped short when the voices were only a few feet away. He approached a few steps closer, as silently as possible, and looked over a large bush that marked the beginning of a clearing.

Kneeling down, the boy rearranged the branches of the plant so he could look through and spied on the clearing.

Past the bushes was a large, fierce-looking bull youkai. Sticking out of its head were two large horns that could easily impale. The monster's teeth were bared and its eyes were a blood red that held nothing but the desire to kill. Its unforgiving gaze was centered upon the opposite edge of a clearing, where a dark haired human girl stared at her adversary in fright.

In her hands she held a measly looking bow. She attempted to aim at the bull youkai, but she was trembling so violently that she found herself unable to nock her arrow.

The boy behind the hedge snorted at the sight. The thought of a human girl, protecting herself with such a bow in youkai territory was nothing short of comical.

Kagome shook uncontrollably. Her legs were frozen to the ground at the sight of the horrible creature. Its massive muscles tightened beneath its black, leathery skin, preparing to charge. Kagome was still locked in the same spot. She stared at the two red eyes that focused on her and could not think because fear clouded her mind.

The bull youkai dragged one hoof along the grass. He laughed maliciously, "How unfortunate for you that I was looking for my next meal! This will teach humans to interfere with the mighty youkai!" He boomed.

The girl's eyes widened even more in surprise as the youkai's threats caused her to unceremoniously drop her bow. After taking in the imposing sight before her for a moment, she proceeded to reach for something within her robes. "Wait," the human stuck her shaking fist out in front of her. "I-I," she trembled as she attempted to speak, her fear augmented.

The hidden boy stared at the odd scene with interest, wondering if the girl had truly lost her mind with fear.

"I have something you want!" she finally managed to spit out. She held out her closed fist to the sinister youkai as an offering.

The youkai laughed once again, "What could you possibly have that I would want _human_?" He hissed out the final word as if it were the most despicable of all insults.

"A shikon jewel shard." The girl opened her palm and a pinkish aura emitted from what laid on it.

At the edge of the clearing, the strange young man exclaimed in disbelief under his breath. How could she have acquired something he searched endlessly for? The boy looked on with heightened interest.

"A clever girl you are," the bull roared, "You're right about one thing, I do desire the shard. In fact, I will be taking it. As soon as you're dead."

The girl's hand returned against her chest and she backed up. "No…." she whispered.

The nearby boy smirked. Only a single youkai blocked him from getting much closer to his goal. As the bull took his charging stance once again, the dog eared teenager realized it was time to intervene. And in a single hop, he situated himself between the youkai and the trembling girl.

A barely audible gasp came from behind him at his unexpected entrance.

"Sorry but you won't be getting any shards today," he told the bull. "Iron reaver soul stealer!" the boy yelled as his attack shot towards the bull. To his dismay, the large monster was quicker than it looked.

"What's this?" It asked after dodging the attack, "An abomination keeping me from my prize? Step aside half breed."

The boy scowled, "These are my forests, get out before I rip you to shreds."

The bull youkai laughed and dragged his hoof menacingly. "Pitiful. The youkai here must be terribly weak to have such a disgusting creature over them. But I'll be taking care of that."

Without sparing another second, it charged towards the teenage boy.

He was barely able to jump in time to avoid the massive horns. However, hanyou didn't have a moment to relax on the ground as the bull came charging at him again. _'Damn it he's fast,'_ he thought as he soared through the air. The pattern continued as the bull relentlessly went after his new target.

The human girl looked fearfully upon battle from the corner of the clearing. _'A youkai I can trust….. could he be?'_

As her savior sprung out of the bull's direct path once again, the beastly youkai managed to ram the retreating hanyou's chest with his shoulder. He was sent sliding along the grass as he gripped his chest. The boy growled as he stopped, crouching low to the ground. _'This had to end now.'_He speculated and hurriedly looked around at his options.

Realizing something, he turned to look at the behemoth with a smirk. The evading boy sprang off of the ground once again and landed at the edge of the clearing, right in front of a huge tree that was four times as wide as he.

As expected, the rampant youkai charged towards him frenziedly yet again. Right before it reached its aim, the hanyou pushed of the ground and ascended straight up into the air. He heard a loud crashing noise erupt from beneath him only a split second after. The bull had trapped his own horns in the bark of the gigantic tree.

It struggled with the compromising situation as the hanyou landed beside him. "You're fast, I'll admit. But not very smart, are you?" He commented lightly before unleashing an attack on his now still target.

The old tree shattered into thousands of pieces that flew through the air. Both the girl and the red clad boy covered their eyes with their sleeves as the flying bits made their way towards them. When the debris cleared the two put their arms down to see the bull slumped on the ground, dead.

The girl stepped forward into the clearing. A dizzying happiness filled her at the mere thought of being alive. As she stared at the now still body of the youkai that had attacked her she heard a voice from behind, "Oi, girl."

She turned and saw the silver haired boy that saved her. She looked upward and noticed the two dog ears perched atop his head. _'He's too cute to be a monster like other youkai,' _Kagome mused happily and smiled.

Abruptly he curled his hand into a fist and snarled menacingly at her. "Give me the jewel shard, and I might not tear you apart."

The human girl's eyes opened wide with shock and her smile quickly faded. Perhaps her first observation had been a little off.

"Hey! Can't you hear me?" He approached her until he was an arm's length away. "Or do you want to die?" the boy asked, flexing his claws a little too close to her face.

The girl took a step back. If she gave him the shard, she would be able to run and maybe make it out of the forest alive. "Fine." She said as she dropped the small object into his palm.

The boy inspected it closely and poked it gently with his other hand. _'I can't believe it,'_he was transfixed at the no longer elusive entity.

Taking it as the prime opportunity to escape, the human girl began to run. She didn't get far; however, as the hanyou grabbed her forearm with his free hand before she could get past him. She stopped short and almost fell backwards.

"What's the big deal? You said you'd let me go!" She yelled and glared at him.

He laughed coldly, "You think you can threaten me with your looks, human?" He looked back at the shard in his other hand. "How did an idiot like you get a hold of this?"

"If I tell you, will you let me go?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure," He sighed without much enthusiasm.

The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It was easy when you can see the light from a mile away. It summoned me and led me to where it was. I mean, that's how you ended up here too, right?"

His grip didn't loosen at all. "You're telling me you can sense the shards?"

The girl nodded. "Isn't that what I just said? Can't _y_ou tell the bull has one in each leg?" She paused for a moment and looked at her arm, "You can let go now….." She added in annoyance. By now the adolescent was no longer scared and felt more like punching the guy in the face.

The boy smiled genuinely for the first time. "Nope, don't think so." Frowning, the human attempted futilely to break her captor's grip. "I think I'll keep you for now, until you find me all the shards." With a second thought he added, "Then I'll let you go. How does that sound?"

Before she could object the boy reached down and wrapped an arm around the back of her knees. He pushed her up the then threw her roughly over his shoulder.

A slight "Oof" escaped her and as her stomach unexpectedly landed on his not very comfortable shoulder.

"You can't do this!" She berated and put her hands into fists. "You can't just kidnap someone and do whatever you want with them!" She started to bang her clenched fists against his back with all her strength. The boy didn't even flinch.

He walked towards the carcass of the dead youkai and bent down by its legs, still balancing the flailing girl on his shoulder. He smiled when he spotted, just as the girl had said, a shard lodged into each of the bulls' shins. Without sparring a second, he grabbed the two shards and hid them, along with the third one, within his robe, "So that explains his speed," he murmured to himself.

"Hey!" She yelled with another hard hit, "Are you even listening?" The teenage girl looked over to inspect the back of his head.

"Would you just shut up wench?" He scolded as his ears flinched at the sound of that particularly loud yell.

"No! You expect me to just let you take me where ever you want? I'm not just some…shard detector you know!" She continued to look at his head and decided to land a punch there, too. To her pleasure, she could feel him wince at the contact. "And my name is not wench! It's Kagome!"

"Fine! Ka-Go-Me!" He repeated insultingly as he walked out of the clearing that held the now decaying body.

"You-"

"My name's not you," the boy interrupted in a mocking tone.

With that she yanked hard on one of his ears. "Ow!" the hanyou gasped in pain as he dropped her unceremoniously on the ground. He tentatively touched the offended ear with his hand as he continued to wince.

Kagome got off the ground as fast as possible and began running. For a few moments, she believed she was home free. But then, with a flash of red, she saw the boy run right in front of her, causing her to crash into him.

He grabbed both her shoulders with his clawed hands and pulled her away just enough so she could see him staring venomously at her. "You can't run away. I told you, you're going to find the jewel shards."

Kagome sighed in resignation. There was no way she'd be able to escape at that moment; she would, however, keep a wary eye out for the slightest opportunity.

The boy sensed the change in demeanor and let go of her.

"Why do you want them anyway? They'll just cause you trouble." Kagome asked, resting her hands on her waist.

The boy in question raised an eyebrow, "Who said I was going to keep them?"

"Then why are you-" she stopped as a certain part of her grandfather's anecdote about the jewel flashed across her mind. She looked at him with surprise. "How do you know about that?"

"Feh!" he folded his arms over his chest, "That's none of your business, wench."

"Well what would you wish for? You're already strong." She inquired further, ignoring the insult.

"Are you always this nosey, bitch?"

"Hmf! Fine, be a jerk then. And no, I was just wondering why. Is that too much to ask when you're dragging me with you like this?" Kagome sighed at the absence of a response. "Well since we're going to be spending oh so much lovely time together," she began sarcastically, "tell me your name."

"Inuyasha." He answered simply and started to walk past her. From behind, the hanyou heard the nosey girl take two quick steps in the opposite direction. He promptly turned and narrowed his eyes at her.

Kagome must have felt his stare, for she suddenly stopped and turned around slowly to look back at him. She raised her hands out submissively and laughed nervously, "Heh heh, just kidding….?"

* * *

><p>an: that's it for now, tell me what you think!

Till next time!


	4. Osuwari!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Thanks so much to Amelie, EternalSky, Saphireanime, and Katie Moon for reviewing! You guys are great.

Saphireanime: Next chapter's up so no need to hyperventilate! Haha Also, Sesshoumaru will definetly be making quite a few appearances in the coming chapters so stay tuned ;)

EternalSky: Yep Inuyasha did mention owning the forest… you'll have to read this chapter and the next few to find out more!

OK unto chapter four!

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><p>Chapter Four: Osuwari!<p>

Inuyasha progressed through the forest, dragging the protesting Kagome by her wrist.

"Inuyasha, could you just wait for one second?" She attempted for what seemed like the hundredth time to escape his unwavering hold. "I just need to go back and get my bow!"

The boy looked back at her but never ceased walking. "What do you need that piece of crap for anyway? Judging by your last performance you won't be hitting ANYTHING with it."

Kagome glowered at his unshakable stubbornness. "You don't get it! It's from someone important!"

"Ha!" He continued weaving through the endless trees, "Well they obviously didn't care much for you. Taking that thing into battle with a youkai is like a death sentence."

Kagome couldn't believe he was so impatient. A minute was all she needed, she had been asking since they just left the clearing. Who knows how far they were from it now .The bow, although a bit shabby, was the last physical object that reminded her of Ayami.

A groan escaped Kagome as she let the subject drop.

As the boy persisted to drag her, Kagome realized she'd have to start some kind of conversation in order to fill the pregnant silence that began to form between them. Remembering what the bull youkai said she asked, "You're a hanyou, Inuyasha?"

He didn't look back but his grip on her wrist tightened slightly. "You have a problem with that?" He finally replied after a short silence.

Kagome shook her head. "No, I just never heard of one before. That means you're half human too….. it's different. Not that different's bad or anything like that." Kagome further explained sheepishly.

She heard a quiet "Feh!" emit from the boy dragging her and decided not to press any further, and opted for a change of topic.

"So where are we going?"

"Do you ever stop taking? You'll find out soon enough." The boy muttered without once looking back.

Kagome sighed. How did she end up in this situation again? Just yesterday she was set to marry Hojo and now she was being dragged through the woods by a half demon, something she didn't even know existed. Just then, she recalled something the hanyou had said during his fight with the bull youkai.

"So wait, these forests are yours?"

The hanyou still did not turn around but Kagome managed to make out a nod of his head. "Yes. They're mine. And we're going to settle some matters before I leave to find the jewel shards so no one tries to overthrow my authority while I'm gone all right? Does that answer all of your questions?" he snarled.

Kagome glared at the back of her captors head, "Nope. I have a lot more. How did you get them? Were you born into it or something?" she pressed further.

"Clearly you're clueless about youkai. Stupid human," the hanyou snorted as he swung at a branch in his way.

Kagome had to duck to avoid it from hitting her own face. "Well then would you care to enlighten me?"

He took a deep breath, as if to calm himself down. "Youkai don't have any hereditary rules or anything like that. Here we don't waste time on idiotic rules and traditions. That's only humans."

Kagome frowned. Getting information out of the hanyou was like grasping at straws to say the least. "So they how does it work? I mean, I know that they have become more organized since the jewel shards appeared but…"

"Ha. Humans and their understanding of youkai ways..." He murmured to himself. Then he spoke more loudly, addressing the girl's question, "Strength is everything to youkai. The strongest rules, and that's the only thing that matters."

"So you're the strongest in this area, then?"

"That's what it implies, doesn't it." He replied sarcastically.

Kagome let the subject drop for now. Talking to this guy was almost painful. She felt that if she spaced her questions a bit more, he might be a little less cranky with her.

For a while, she just let herself be dragged to wherever he was taking her in resignation. Now she knew he was the strongest around, there was no way for here to escape; at least not while he was alert.

Kagome let her mind wander. Why was she the only one who could sense the shards? And perhaps 'sense' was not the right word. It was as if she was forced to retrieve the thing from the forest. But then again, why didn't the bull youkai's shards feel the same way? She could feel those to… but it was definitely a different sensation from the first.

Eventually her thoughts drifted to that morning. Her village was a distant memory now; although it was only a few hours away it may have well been an eternity.

One part of Kagome was thankful for the days' developments. At least the guilt that was torturing her earlier was buried beneath the odd events that fell upon her, one right after the other.

She stared at the back of the head of her captor. She had always assumed, as well as everyone in her village, that youkai looked like monsters. Inuyasha, though, had far more human qualities; but then again he was half human. The thought of his two parents made Kagome frown in confusion; was the youkai parent human-looking as well? Perhaps they were both hanyous? Where were they now? A seemingly endless trail of questions progressed through the girl's head.

Not before long Kagome's back and feet began to ache painfully with the abundance of walking since morning. Her body was just not used to it. _'And to think I used to complain about running errands for mother,'_ she thought, not without a strike of guilt to her heart.

"Inuyasha, I need to rest!" The girl proclaimed as she plopped on the ground.

The silver haired boy almost fell over at the sudden change in weight. He turned back at the girl and crossed his arms. Kagome observed him innocently. "Are you serious wench?" He asked furiously, "We barely even started! If you're gonna sense the jewel shards, you need to at least be moving!"

The girl smiled slyly. "Oh come on, don't be so uptight." She padded the ground next to her. "A few minutes won't kill you. Why not just sit-"

At the word, Inuyasha plunged face first into the dirt of the forest floor.

Kagome looked at the boy and heard a muffled string of profanities coming from the small ditch that held his head. She furrowed her eyebrows at the strange behavior. "Umm, you know I didn't mean it like that, right?"

After another moment without stirring the hanyou sat up from the ground with a flash. "How come you can control this?" He demanded as he grabbed the dark purple beads of the rosary around his neck and shoved them in Kagome's face.

Kagome leaned back and blinked a few times. "What are you talking about Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's other hand flayed our in frustration. "The subduing spell on the rosary! I thought only one person could use it!" The boy was seething.

The stunned girl sitting next to him frowned. "Inuyasha, I really have no idea what you're talking about," she replied calmly opposed to the agitated tone of the hanyou.

Inuyasha sighed and let the rosary drop back against the red fabric of his haori. "There was this human girl who just showed up all of a sudden. I think it was a year ago or something," he articulated. "I kept telling her to piss off and one day she snuck this thing on me when I was sleeping!" Inuyasha grabbed the necklace so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white.

Kagome bit her lip at his odd story. "Right… so it only works for her… and me?"

"Yes! That's what I've been saying!" He said impatiently. Pointing at her accusingly, the silver haired boy spoke once more, "Now tell me why! What are you? How come you can sense the shards and control this!"

"How am I supposed know why you do that when I say sit!" Kagome covered her mouth as soon as she uttered the bewitched word.

Inuyasha crashed into the ground once again, but not before managing out a "bitch!"

Kagome couldn't help but laugh, hard. She clutched tightly onto her stomach and almost fell over. She heard a strangled, "not funny," but ignored it completely.

'_Who's the one in control now?'_Kagome triumphantly reached a hand out and padded the back of his head lightly. He squirmed uncomfortably underneath the touch.

"Since you're just laying there and all, I'm going to go. I'll see you later, Inuyasha." She stood up and began to walk away happily, almost breaking into a skip. After a few steps she turned back with her finger pointed upward towards the sky. "One more thing, though. You should definitely rest and SIT for a while. I mean sometimes it's good to just SIT around, you know. SITTING can be really relaxing. I mean…. who doesn't enjoy a good SIT? Just SIT Inuyasha."

With every pronounced sit, the boy was pulled deeper and deeper into the ground with a strangled curse.

Kagome then turned and resumed following her footsteps to get out of the woods, all while smiling proudly. Now that the hanyou wasn't a problem, she could go back to her original plan._'No more following weird voices in your head, Kagome.'_She reprimanded herself silently.

She managed to get out of the forest without any further interruption and saw a small black dot that must have been the village on the horizon.

Advancing towards the hamlet, Kagome noticed the sun was already halfway covered by the distant mountains. _'When did it get so late?'_ Kagome pondered, _'Stupid Inuyasha. Who does he think he is, dragging me around like a rag doll? Overbearing brute!'_

Expelling all thoughts of her earlier abduction, Kagome set her sights on her destination.

….

The silver haired boy slowly pulled himself out of the Inuyasha-sized crater he laid face first in. Barely managing to reach up and sit on the edge, the pained hanyou rested his head in his hands and groaned. _'Wench. Doesn't she realize how much that hurts?'_

He remained still for a while, letting the throbbing discomfort in his head cease. After a few seconds of recovery, he looked up once again. Smelling the air tentatively, Inuyasha easily picked up the runaway girl's sent.

"I'm going to find you Kagome….." He muttered threateningly. He pushed up on his hands and slid his feet underneath his to get up, but fell clumsily back on the ground with a loud CRACK ringing from his lower back. "Ow….. as soon as I can stand."

…..

Kagome laughed and spun around in a circle gleefully as she reached the outskirts of the small village. "Finally, civilization!" she exclaimed.

Kagome saw a middle aged woman, sweeping in front of her dear near the entrance of the town. "Excuse me, mam?" she asked and approached her.

The woman tensed but soon relaxed when she could make out Kagome in the twilight. "I've never seen you around here before."

Kagome nodded. "I'm just visiting. Could you point me to Kaede's house?"

The woman pointed behind her. "Just go that way. Kaede lives in the last house before the brick wall at the edge of our town."

The blue eyed girl thanked the woman and followed her directions. The village was similar to her own, with a spacious bazaar in its center and several brick and wood houses surrounding it. She recognized it seemed slightly more vacant that the village she used to reside in when passing through the large market square. In whole, the area had an un-miscible feeling of what Kagome could best explain as barrenness and, well, dirt.

She stopped at a small house that sat next to, as the woman mentioned, a shoulder height brick wall. It was crumbling in several areas and covered with moss and vines. Kagome knocked on the door. "Lady Kaede?" She requested, inching her face closer to the wood door. "I need a place to spend the night. Ayami told me to come here."

A slightly hunched over small woman with grey hair and an eye patch opened the door. Her wrinkled eyes held both wisdom and kindness. "Come in dear." She gestured, speaking in a crackling voice.

"Thank you," Kagome responded gratefully as she began walking into the old woman's household.

Kagome stopped for a moment as she passed through the entrance; a foreboding feeling and a strange shiver went through her out of nowhere. Deciding it must just be her exhaustion, the young girl continued inside.

"Take a seat, child. Ye truly look worn out."

The girl nodded and sat down at the table that stood against one of the house's side walls. She only then realized just how tired she had become; her face must have looked awful.

For the first time in hours, she let her legs relax. She ached from the long day of walking.

"Some tea, child?" She proposed while holding a black pot and matching cup.

"Yes please," Kagome replied enthusiastically, looking at the warm liquid longingly.

Sitting down beside the teenager, Kaede shakily commenced pouring to hot tea into the small porcelain cup. "Here you are." She said when it was filled and pushed the small cup into Kagome's hands.

Kagome drew to cup to her lips and took a small sip of the welcomingly hot beverage. She sighed in comfort and set the container back onto the table. Although it had been overbearingly hot during the day, the beverage relaxed the girl, her shoulders slumping against the wall and her stomach warming.

"Now, what has put ye into such a state?" The woman inquired, eyeing Kagome's tattered robes and her dirt covered feet.

Kagome looked at the woman, deciding where exactly to begin. "Well… I was attacked by a youkai in the forest," she admitted, wondering how the old woman would react.

Her eyes widened slightly, "And how may I ask, did ye manage to survive such an ordeal?"

Kagome decided it was best to tell the woman the truth. If Ayami trusted her, then she could as well. The girl in question shrugged, "Well, it wasn't me really. This hanyou came and killed the youkai for me."

The old woman raised a single eyebrow, "Hanyou, you say. That is truly interesting….." The old woman then glanced at Kagome's expression once more. Before continuing, Kaede stood.

"I have a spare cot," The woman offered and pointed to one that was pressed against the corner of the room. "When you're ready, you may sleep. You can explain the rest of situation in the morning." Kaede looked upon Kagome's weary face, "But for now I advise it is best ye take rest."

With that the woman went into another room in the house, leaving Kagome's range of vision. The sitting girl sighed and leaned her elbow on the sturdy surface of the table. She couldn't help it as her thoughts drifted back to Inuyasha.

_'I wonder what he's doing now.'_Imagining the sight of him swearing into the ground brought a smile to Kagome's face. _'Shows him, trying to kidnap me.'_

As the teenager continued to sit and relax, occasionally sipping her tea, another thought sneaked into her head. _'Maybe I should have stayed?'_ She was aware of how crazy it was but continued the train of thought._'I did want to go on an adventure; scoping the world hunting jewel shards with my stubborn but reliable side-kick, youkai boy. That definitely sounds like one.'_ Kagome chuckled quietly. She knew she was majorly glossing over the situation, but the girl still wondered if she had done the right thing. After all, Inuyasha wasn't going to hurt her or anything…

Kagome shook her head, "I have to stop. This is ridiculous." Pushing herself off of the chair, the girl walked to the cot, laid down and pulled the covers with her. As her muscles relaxed, exhaustion won over her and she quickly faded to sleep before her mind start to race once again.

…

Kagome started to come to with the sounds of birds chirping in the distance. The girl kept her eyes closed for a moment, gathering herself.

She awoke confused, deciding whether or not she had a weird dream and unsure of where she was. Kagome replayed the events she remembered through her mind and realized she must he at Kaede's house.

Ready to face reality, she opened an eye slightly and saw nothing but a bright shade of red. _'Wait, red?'_ The girl sat up in a panic to find a boy with dog ears sitting cross legged right beside her.

He smirked at the girl. She looked ridiculous and even borderline deranged. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and her hair was completely unruly. "Thought you could get rid of me so easily, Kagome?"

* * *

><p>AN: Poor Kagome just can't catch a break...

That's it for now, as always any thoughts are appreciated (good or bad), expect chapter five soon!


	5. The Slayer

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews, now here's chapter five!

* * *

><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Five: The Slayer

"In-Inu…uh…wha, how?" Kagome stumbled incomprehensively.

"Forget I'm not human like you, wench? I followed your scent here." Kagome groaned and covered her sleepy face with the sheets. "And before we go to find the shards again, you might want to….. fix yourself, you look awful." Inuyasha tapped his finger on his chin thoughtfully. "But then again, less youkai will bother us since they'd be scared away….."

Kagome looked up venomously, "Sit!"

"Ahh!" A loud bang rang through the house, causing some smaller objects to vibrate slightly, "Do you know how much that hurts on wood floor?" He mumbled into the ground furiously.

"I'm glad it does." Kagome sat up and bopped Inuyasha on the head for added effect. "And if you think I'm coming with you, too bad."

Just then a door on the distant side of the space opened quickly and an old woman emerged into the room. Looking down at the boy laying on the ground, she inquired calmly, "So this is the hanyou you spoke of earlier?"

The girl sitting with her hands crossed on the cot nodded. If looks could kill, the back of the hanyou's head would be in critical condition.

Kaede stopped her approach when she found herself beside Inuyasha. She was very serene-looking, despite the eccentric situation that was taking place in her great room. Kagome eyed the old woman, something was slightly different from last night, but she couldn't exactly point out what it was. "I take it you're the hanyou who's been harassing this poor child?"

Inuyasha finally found the strength to sit up from the subduing spell Kagome had used a minute prior. "What's it to ya?" he snarled defensively.

Kagome was about to berate the hanyou for being so rude to her host but the old woman interjected, "Kagome, why don't you go into the bedroom? I have a mirror in there." Kaede offered, looking at the state of the teenager's hair.

Kagome nodded thankfully and stood up. Pointing to Inuyasha she warned, "Don't try anything funny or I'll say it."

"Feh!" Inuyasha glared. "Just go already, your face is starting to scare me too."

Kagome stamped tempestuously toward the door Kaede had just appeared through. A faint "Sit!" escaped her lips before going through the doorway.

Closing the heavy door, the now isolated girl ignored the sound of the hanyou in the next room swearing at her. _'You wanted him back, and now you got him, Kagome.'_She thought to herself dryly, casting away the regret she had only the night before.

As Kagome stood, boring into the mirror at her own figure, the girl couldn't help thinking that Inuyasha wasn't lying when he remarked about how she looked. Her thick black tresses were disheveled with frizz sticking out in every direction. To make her even more appealing, a dark circle found its way underneath each of Kagome's eyes. _'I would scare youkai away,' _she joked at herself.

She then dug into her bag, which she had brought into the room with her, and pulled out an old brush. _'There are some things you just can't leave behind._' Kagome looked at the brush fondly before tugging through the black strands of her hair.

Soon her hair was arranged in the usual, unthreatening fashion. Smiling triumphantly after the tough job, Kagome looked over the see a small pale sitting on the ground. It was filled with water. The primping teenager bent down over it and splashed some of the welcomingly cool liquid unto the skin of her face.

Looking into the mirror once more, she smiled. "Much better."

When she re-entered the great room, Inuyasha was sitting on the floor with his usual glowering look while Kaede was situated near the table.

Looking at the improved-looking girl, Inuyasha started, "So why didn't you try and zap me or something like that." He commented smartly.

Kagome tilted her head to the side slightly, baffled at the strange comment. "What? Sorry to disappoint you, Inuyasha but I can't 'zap' anything."

Kaede spoke up, "Kagome, child, Inuyasha does bring up a point. The spell that was placed upon the enchanted rosary he wears only works when the word 'sit'," Inuyasha reflexively stiffened at the mention of it, "is uttered by a rather powerful priestess. I've experienced this type of spell before."

Kagome shook her head, now completely perplexed. "That's impossible. Sure my grandfather was the village priest…. But I can't do the simplest thing! I swear!" After a second, another thought came into her mind. "Well I can sense jewel shards…."

Inuyasha growled. "Shut up wench!" he voiced, admonishing her confession, "You can't just go around and tell people about that!"

"Why?" Kagome quickly retorted, "so you can kidnap me again and have your shard detector all to yourself?"

"Child," Kaede said in a quietly, taken aback, "ye can sense the fabled shikon shards? How can such a thing be possible?"

"I don't know," the girl managed weakly, "I just picked up on one when I was walking to this village. It called to me….." She explained meekly, not sure how to put her experience yesterday into words.

"Then it is dire that ye set off and find them all."

Kaede's drastic suggestion caused a quiet to come from both Kagome and Inuyasha. She continued, "The jewel has caused countless problems throughout history. A bountiful supply humans and youkai are, even at this moment, searching for the shards. Surely any one of those hunters would cause chaos if they succeeded. And, I fear things are only getting worse."

The two adolescents gazed at the old priestess silently with interest.

"But how? How am I supposed to get the shards from all these horrible sounding people and youkai?" Kagome finally asked, breaking the silence. The question of the old woman's mental health popping into the back of her mind, "And where would we even start?"

The old woman clasped her ancient hands together and nodded, "I agree it is not something to be taken lightly. 'Tis a difficult task. I know not where you can find all the jewel shards," she told them, shifting her gaze between the human girl and the hanyou, "But I do know the high priestess has been collecting them for the past year. I believe I heard she wants to use the jewel to exterminate all youkai."

Kagome felt all of the color drain from her cheeks at the mention of the high priestess.

Inuyasha snorted, "She's delusional then. Where can we find her? I'll take care of her little plot and her shards."

The young girl grinded her teeth for a moment, decided whether or not to speak up, but then finally realized she had no choice, "I know where she'll be in a month." Kagome sighed, she didn't know what was more ridiculous; getting married by the high priestess, or having to attack her.

Kaede raised an eyebrow, "The festival in the nearby village, aye?"

"Yep," she replied tersely.

"All right, we'll just look for the other shards, and go after the priestess in a month." Inuyasha said as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

Kagome shook her head, "How am I supposed to do this?" she questioned. The thought of her village reminded her of her constant failures while there.

"Well it looks like you already have a strong ally." Kaede replied, looking over at Inuyasha. "He would surely help you."

"Ally? Listen woman, I'm in charge, and I'm the one who's going to get all the jewel shards." Inuyasha smirked. "Besides, this doesn't change anything. Let's go Kagome." He said standing up, about to grab the girl by the arm.

"Wait one minute, Inuyasha." Kaede held up a hand, interrupting the inevitable fight about to break out between the two teenagers. "I must show Kagome something first." Kaede gestured for the girl to follow her into the back room.

As soon as Kagome entered the cramped dark space a now familiar sensation rang through her head.

Kaede opened one of the draws of a small, black dresser that sat against one of the walls. The dresser Kaede looked through was the only piece of furniture in the room. Its paint was chipping off in several places, revealing the several years it had been utilized.

Kagome knew what the old woman was looking for before she even spoke, "I have never told anyone of this," Kaede began as she pulled out a large locket and wiped it with her sleeve to expel some of the dust that covered it from years of storage.

Its chain looked like a thin, gold colored rope that was too long for either Kaede or Kagome to properly wear. Hanging from the end of the chain was a large bronze locket in the form of a circle. The metal's surface was adorned by many intricate, yet indiscernible designs engraved deeply into it.

The old woman opened the dusty piece of jewelry carefully. Before she pulled out what was hidden inside, Kagome already realized what the woman was bestowing to her. A familiar summoning sensation erupted within her skull.

Kaede pulled out, not a shard, but rather a chunk of the shikon jewel.

Kagome gasped at its size, "Where did you get that from, Kaede?"

The woman looked at the pendant thoughtfully, "It's a rather odd tale, I must say. I was still a little girl, much younger than yourself. One day I was playing in the river, and saw this shining among the other rocks in its bed," Kaede signaled to the large piece of the sacred jewel. "I hid it as best as I could, never telling anyone about my 'secret mythical stone.'" The old woman stopped momentarily to laugh at herself. "It was only until years later when I had come to realize what exactly it was." Kaede put the piece back in the locket and held it out for Kagome to take. "I have never told anyone about it or used it, in fear that I would be hunted down. A funny coincidence, wouldn't ye say?"

Kagome nodded slowly as she took the heavy locket from the recollecting priestess.

"That locket is a safe place to put all of your shards in," She suggested, her hands dropping to her sides.

Kagome frowned, remembering something. "Wait, why couldn't I sense this until I was in this room? The one I found in the forest I felt from a mile away."

Kaede thought for a moment before speaking, "Well I am not strong enough to activate the subduing spell of Inuyasha's necklace as you can, but I do know of some magics. I sealed this room for good measure. Of course I didn't suspect there was anyone who could actually sense the shards but…" She trailed off before beginning to walk towards the door.

Kagome gazed of the locket. Want kind of magic could seal a jewel shard?

Kaede turned back to the young girl before leaving the room completely, "Oh yes. One more thing, Kagome. I know not what Inuyasha wants with the completed jewel." Kaede's aged face wrinkled with concern. "He will hold great value to you but remember, as soon as you complete the jewel, you must make a completely pure wish on it. Only such a desire will finally rid the world of the curse thing."

"Okay." Kagome answered, thinking back to Inuyasha's reluctance to tell her what he wanted to wish for. _'If I'm lucky, he wants world peace or something like that.'_

The two women entered the great room shortly after. Inuyasha stood in the same spot, looking impatient. "Finally, could you have taken any longer, wench?"

Kagome walked up to him in a huff and held out her hands. "I'll hold all the jewel shards."

Inuyasha laughed, clutching his stomach tightly, "You're kidding right? There's no way in hell I'd let a weak huma-"

"Sit!"

As Inuyasha lay on the ground, he stuck one of his arms underneath him, groping inside his haori. After a few seconds, it emerged, holding three jewel shards. "I hate you," He grumbled.

* * *

><p>The entire village crowded along the edges of its dirt paths as a huge man walked through the streets. He was at least a head above most of the villagers, and the way his muscles bulged under his skin tight uniform made him even more intimidating. At his waist was a belt hat carried a multitude of weapons, some hard to identify. They clinked together menacing while he took lumbering steps deeper into the town.<p>

Without a word, he continued into a less congested area of the hamlet, where brick houses were scattered among a grassy expanse. The daunting, brawly man stopped in front of one of the larger houses and knocked on the door. "The village of youkai slayers has received your message." The man projected loudly in a deep, masculine voice.

A middle aged woman opened the door nervously. "Welcome, slayer. Thank you for responding and coming so quickly." She invited him into the old brick house.

He obliged and followed her inside, carefully ducking under the doorframe, unto a rug worn from several years of use. An old man and a skinny boy entered the room in distress from the back.

"Slayer," the old man began, "It's horrible! The festival is starting in little over a month and my granddaughter, the one who was to be married by the high priestess, is missing!"

The boy next to the man gave an imploring look to the man rather like a lost puppy, but remained quiet.

"Disappeared, you say?" The man's expression didn't falter for a second. "There is only one possibility. She was taken by a filthy youkai," he said in a cold tone, "You were right to call on me. We shall have this matter taken care of."

The three looked up at the man thankfully. "We must do something!" said the skinny boy, speaking for the first time. "We have to save her. We were so happy, going to get married…."

The man stepped closer to the disgruntled boy, silencing him. "I have planned to do a routine cleanse of all the youkai in the area to avoid something like this from happening again." He paused, "When I am finished, there will not be a single, despicable creature for miles, I can assure you. I will keep a close eye for your granddaughter. But, you need know now that if her captor was simply looking for a meal, the most probable scenario, she has long been dead."

* * *

><p>"You're such a pig Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled as the hanyou devoured the plate Kaede had served to him. He was keen on leaving as soon as possible but at the mention of food, the silver haired boy's mind was instantaneously changed.<p>

"Piss off woman, I'm hungry!"

Kagome exhaled slowly. Now that she was stuck with the headstrong hanyou for god knows how long, she'd have to get used to his behavior. The girl slowly took another bite of her food. It would be a long journey.

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><p>AN: I know this one was a bit on the short side, but expect a longer chapter six. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, please keep reviewing and telling me what you guys think! Any suggestions/comments would be great,

Till next time!


	6. Among the Trees

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Woo 20,000 word mark! Surprising how quickly that came up... But anyway here's the next chapter hope you like! As promised its a bit longer than the last.

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><p>Two for the Road<p>

Chapter Six: Among the Trees

Kaede stood next to the table where the two were eating their meals. "So where will ye begin looking for the shards?"

For the first time since his meal was put on the table, Inuyasha looked up from his plate. "We have to take care of some things before leaving my forests," He managed to get out between large bites.

The old woman caught her breath in her throat, "Your forests?"

The sound of Inuyasha's claw scrapping against the table filled the room as he pushed his plate away, "Is that surprising to you? A mere hanyou being a head youkai?" He snarled and gazed at the old woman dangerously.

Kagome swallowed hard as Kaede remained silent, taken aback by the hanyou's sudden outburst. "Inuyasha you know she didn't mean that, calm down." She told him sternly with a threatening look.

"Feh!" The boy turned away and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "C'mon Kagome we have to go," he announced and walked to the door without sparing another second.

The young girl sighed and stood up reluctantly. She didn't want to leave Kaede in such a state after her hospitality but she also had a feeling that Inuyasha would only grow crankier if they stayed for longer. She didn't want to start a losing battle against Inuyasha's stubbornness yet again.

"Thank you for everything Kaede, and I'm very sorry about….. him." She apologized, bowing to the old woman.

Kaede nodded knowingly. "Be safe child. And Inuyasha, make sure to protect her," the old woman said as the two walked out the door.

"Let me see the old bag's jewel shard." Inuyasha stated as soon as the two had left Kaede's house.

Kagome held her hand above her eyes as they got used to the bright sunlight, "You were listening in on us?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyed, "Didn't we go over the fact that my senses are more sensitive than yours?" His hands then fell downward and he sighed. "Plus it's hard not to hear you two blabbermouths talking away," the hanyou limply tossed his hand to the side.

"Fine," She remarked chastely, "but if you try to grab it I'll S-I-T you," Kagome warned as she pulled up the golden rope than hung around her neck. The girl gently opened the bronze locket and pulled out the largest piece, shinning ghostly among the three others.

Holding it between her index finger and thumb, she showed it to the curious hanyou. With a dumbstruck expression, his hand slowly rose towards the large piece.

As if a light bulb went off in his mind, Inuyasha's hand fell back to his side, remembering Kagome's threat.

"Wow, to think that thing was just lying in a river….."

"Yeah," Kagome nodded before hastily placing the object back into the locket. As the piece of jewelry fell to her chest once more, the girl began, "It's strange…. She said she put a sealing spell on it so no one would ever go after her for it….. I didn't even know such a thing existed."

Inuyasha shrugged, seemingly uninterested by the comment.

Kagome was reminded of something else, "About the wish, you heard it has to be pure, right?"

"Feh! I don't care about that shit; I just care about MY wish, that's all." Inuyasha replied stubbornly.

"Well then you could at least tell me what it is."

Inuyasha's shoulders slumped in annoyance, "To think she'd figure it out by now," he commented, lifting his arms in question.

The hanyou's expression changed and he became serious. "I'm going to become a full youkai," he finally decided to answer.

Kagome looked at him oddly, "Why?"

"Why?" he grabbed her shoulder with one hand and poked her in the forehead with the other. "How dimwitted can you be? I'm a hanyou!"

Kagome glared at him warningly and he let go of her. "Well that isn't going to destroy the jewel, so sorry." She stated in a huff and started to walk toward the crumbling brick wall, not looking back to the irritated Inuyasha.

She put all of her weight on both hands as she leaned on the top of the brick wall and attempted to swing one of her legs over it. To Kagome's embarrassment, however, instead of landing on the top, her foot hit the edge of the wall and she was sent backward unto her bottom.

She looked upward, where the sky was blocked by the smug face of Inuyasha. "So much for your grand exit." He then pointed towards the opposite direction from where Kagome's was heading, "And…we're going THAT way."

The laying girl inwardly groaned as a blush spread on her cheeks. She lazily pushed herself up and stood up onto her feet. "So where exactly are we going?" Kagome asked, trying to change the topic from her less than graceful exit attempt.

"Youkai settlement," the hanyou grumbled.

That didn't bode too well for Kagome. "Why can't you go and take care of your stuff there? I'll wait at Kaede's for you" the girl announced, hoping to avoid said destination.

"Sure," he answered swiftly, leaving Kagome confused by his complacence, "if you find someone else to sense if there are any jewel shards there first." He added.

Kagome scoffed at herself for thinking he would agree to such a proposal. She wasn't sure what he meant by 'youkai settlement' but she was pretty sure that there would be more than one thing willing to have her for dinner there. "But how am I supposed to go there with you? I'm human! Yesterday I couldn't even enter into youkai territory for a few minutes without being attacked!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "Once again, I'm head youkai, all right? Don't worry about it until we get there. Now, come on, get on my back," he ordered before the girl could retort any further.

The strange command caused her to temporarily forget about their destination."What?" Kagome replied as if he were crazy, rubbing her now sore hip.

"We'll get there a lot faster if I just run." He continued, "You don't want to just walk at your speed and take all day do you? It's already well into the day since you decided to sleep so long. Lazy human."

"You're the one who- ugh never mind you're impossible. Let's go," Kagome murmured, attempting to remain one somewhat civilized terms with the boy.

Returning to the question of their means of transportation, the girl threw him a suspicious looked but approached anyway. Inuyasha knelt down, allowing her to get on more easily.

With hesitation, Kagome grabbed on to the kneeling teenager's shoulder as rested her feet on either side of him. _'This better not be some kind of joke and he throws me off.'_

The hanyou then wrapped his arms around Kagome's knees and lifted himself up. "Hold on." He merely said before taking off.

When Inuyasha began running at a remarkable pace Kagome stiffened in shock and her grip on his red haori doubled. They were outside Kaede's village in the blink of an eye to Kagome's amazement. She tried to calm herself down, but failed as soon as they entered the forest. The hanyou didn't slow down even as he winded through the ancient trees.

Fearing they were going to crash into one of them, Kagome closed her eyes and hid her face behind the speeding boy's neck to avoid the strong wind. Without seeing trees zooming past her at a distance a little too close for comfort, Kagome was able to allow herself to slowly relax.

Not long after she dazed off at the feeling of being carried along. She let her head drop unto Inuyasha and let herself loose sense of reality.

Before she could realize they reached their destination, Inuyasha slid to a halt. The girl opened her eyes with the sudden change in momentum and looked around to see they were in a shaded area with a few flimsy trees.

Kagome hopped off his back as he knelt down once again. She straightened her legs and tried to compose herself, getting used to the feeling of standing still once again.

At once she was reminded of where they were headed, "Inuyasha… how am I supposed to just walk into this youkai….settlement thing, or whatever it is?" Kagome questioned from beside the hanyou. A queasy feeling erupted in her stomach at the thought.

"You're with me, you'll me fine," he murmured, "Like I told you. Strength is everything to the youkai. So, since I'm strongest no one is going to go against me, all right?" He explained slowly as if to a small child.

Kagome rolled her eyes. The hanyou hadn't managed to suppress her nerves very successfully. Her heart rate only quickened when they began walking toward what Kagome believed would only lead to impending doom.

Suddenly the hanyou stopped. Kagome jumped in surprise and braced herself for a rampant youkai charging at her, or something of that sort, but nothing came. He seemed to only want to address her, "But whatever you do, say nothing about how you can sense the jewel shards. If that gets out, I can't guarantee what'll happen," he warned, "And one more thing," he continued, pointing at Kagome accusingly, "Don't say the subduing spell while we're in there. I wouldn't put it past them to attack me while I'm down.

"Especially if it's because of a human," Inuyasha decided to add.

"All right," Kagome agreed without hesitation. The last thing she wanted to do was to attract any more attention to herself, if that was even possible.

Ayami warning her not to stray from the dirt path between her village and Kaede's filtered into her mind just then. Kagome scoffed trying to imagine what Ayami would say if the woman knew what kind of mess she had gotten herself in. She wondered if a human ever even entered a youkai settlement, _alive that is..._ Kagome added as an afterthought.

"C'mon, it's right past these trees." He motioned for them to continue.

He turned to look back at Kagome and must have read the panic in her expression. He grabbed her by the shoulder, looking directly into her eyes, "Kagome, it'll be all right. I promise." He admitted sincerely.

The uncharacteristically nice comment left Kagome for a loop. The girl wasn't sure if it was the boy's sincerity, or just her confusion, but suddenly she wasn't feeling as nervous. "I'm ready," she told him resolutely.

Inuyasha led her to a narrow pathway through a dense wall of trees and vines. The further they went, it became darker and darker as thick branches from centuries old trees blocked most of the sunlight from view.

_Be calm, be calm, be calm, _was the mantra Kagome found herself repeating in her head.

Kagome moved a patch of vines from her sight and was caught off guard as her foot landed on a surface too hard to be forest floor. She looked to the ground and was met with large slabs of grey stone.

A few feet in front of her Inuyasha was standing next to a stone railing, his head turned down to the level below. Kagome took a deep breath and walked up next to him.

Down the stone steps at their sides was a huge area, almost like the bazaar back in Kagome's old village. It was rather dark, the branches of the surrounding trees extending even over the center of the area.

It was quite amazing. She had heard they youkai were somewhat organized nowadays but had never imagined villages, or whatever the thing she was looking at was, that they lived together in.

The entire place was covered in the same stone Kagome was standing on, extending to the wall of trees completely enclosing the circular expanse. A few scattered buildings made of impressively large stone blocks nestled in between the trees, each varying in size and shape.

On the far side stood an imposing archway whose intricate iron designs were covered in moss and vines. The girl had no idea what it led to, but she figured it must have been important. The archway stood much higher than any of the other structures visible.

Kagome focused her attention on what was going in the large area beneath her. She felt her stomach in her throat when she saw several youkai spread around the place. The one that immediately caught her eye, though, was a rather small youkai, only about half a human's height and reminiscent of a cross between a dinosaur and a lizard. It wasn't nearly the most impressive or imposing of the youkai in the area; however, Kagome stared at the thing relentlessly, forgetting her previous nerves. The reptilian youkai had made a little stand for himself and appeared to be selling some kind of food. Kagome found the sight so ridiculous she had to hold back a bought of laughter. It was difficult for her to comprehend a youkai doing a task that seemed so…. human.

Kagome tore herself out of her reverie when she notice the little youkai was staring right back at her. In fact, every other youkai was doing the same.

Kagome was frozen in shock with no idea what to do, and could only turn and give Inuyasha a pleading glance. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Inuyasha decided for her and began to push her rather roughly down the stone steps.

"Move human," he snarled at her, causing the girl to almost stumble down the steps. She turned back to berate him but the look on his face made her stop, he wasn't wearing the usual angry or annoyed expression Kagome was used to. It was almost apologetic, or as close to it as Inuyasha could manage. She sighed and continued down the steps, hoping this would go just as the hanyou had planned.

She took deep breath to calm herself down as he forced her closer and closer to the crowd of youkai. Their voices began filtering into earshot. Kagome became even more dismayed when she heard the mumbles, all focusing on her presence. She audibly gulped. How did she end up here again?

Inuyasha's pushing hand from behind her disappeared as she saw his red form move into view. "Listen! This human is mine. Any of you so far as touches her and I'll kill you on the spot, understand?"

Kagome looked curiously between Inuyasha and the other youkai. All the murmuring stopped as soon as the hanyou spoke, the crowd completely transfixed on him. Even more impressive than their reactions was the countenance of the hanyou.

Up until now she thought of him as nothing but annoying, impatient, childish, immature, and several other adjectives of that sort. Whenever he threatened her for one reason or another it seemed more reminiscent of a little child threatening to hold their own breath until they suffocate. She didn't fear him since he saved her from the bull youkai and felt comfortable retorting any threat coming her way.

The way the hanyou approached these youkai, however, almost frightened her. When he had addressed them, there was no hint of the childish stubbornness she was growing accustomed to. It was as cold and ruthless as it was serious. Kagome believed he would carry out the threat and she was certain that the youkai present believed so as well. They silently acknowledge his demand and gave him no further questions about it.

"What is it now?" Inuyasha said from his side in an annoyed voice.

Kagome looked around to see if someone had addressed him and she simply missed it but she was the only one near the silver haired boy. The human girl turned her head over to him one more to find him staring at his own shoulder. Kagome began to wonder if he had lost it, having become power-crazed, or something like that.

"Are they in the arena now then?" He continued, confusing the teenage girl beside him even more, "Fine then." In any normal circumstance ('normal' being a lofty concept for Kagome over the past few days), she'd confront him on the odd behavior but at the moment she believed it best to remain silent.

Inuyasha turned away from his shoulder and scanned the crowd of youkai for a moment. "Yura!" He called, addressing one of the youkai.

Kagome watched as an apparently normal looking girl with short black hair and a ridiculously skimpy excuse for a proper outfit approached the hanyou. "Yes?" she asked with a hint of boredom in her voice.

"Watch the human while I fight. She gets hurts and you pay." He told her curtly and without another word walked toward the crowd of youkai that parted to accommodate his path until Kagome could no longer see him.

Kagome's eyes widened, _'he's leaving me here with this slutty youkai?'_

The female youkai rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest as the hanyou left. "Baby sitting a human… this is ridiculous," she murmured just loud enough for Kagome to hear.

The dark haired girl fiddled with her fingers, attempting to somehow look inconspicuous.

"May I ask how you know Lord Inuyasha, miss?" said a high pitched voice from right next to Kagome's ear. Kagome swatted at her ear without thinking, frightened by the disembodied voice.

It responded with a panicked yelp, "Would you be careful! I'm standing right on your shoulder!"

Kagome nearly jumped in response and turned her head as slowly as possible, shifting her eyes to her shoulder. There, she could make out what looked like a tiny man standing there. "Uh… hi?" Kagome blurted out, the situation was becoming stranger by the second. _'I guess it was him Inuyasha was talking to?'_ she mused, thankful that the hanyou had not gone insane.

"I am Myouga, a pleasure to meet you," the tiny man introduced himself politely.

"I'm Kagome… umm... sorry but what is going on?" She asked cautiously, shifting her gaze between the tiny man on his shoulder and the female youkai glaring at her.

"In the arena? A youkai has come into Inuyasha's territory and challenged him. As the head youkai of these forests he is obliged to take the challenge." The man explained.

"So can you hurry up speaking to this disgusting thing? I don't want to miss this fight!" Yura interjected up for the first time, apparently not willing to address Kagome directly. The female youkai reminded her of some of the snotty human girls she had to often deal with in her own village. Only difference was, Yura could probably kill her in the blink of an eye. Kagome tried to quickly dispel the thought.

"Yes we should watch Lord Inuyasha's fight." Myouga added.

Kagome nodded and followed Yura as she led her toward and through the large archway.

She warily made her way past a few youkai, trying to not to look at any one of them in the eyes or listen in on their conversations. The girl could only imagine what they had to say to her. To her left was a pair of brawly youkai who loomed a few feet above her. They had grey skin that looked like it could barely stretch over the bulging muscles held underneath it. Each of them had huge arms, the muscles of their shoulders reaching halfway up their heads, which were oddly small in proportion to the rest of their bodies.

_Must not leave much room for brains. _Kagome thought to herself, a small smile breaking unto her face.

As she passed by them, Kagome couldn't help but pick up their booming voices.

"Must be a feisty one if Inuyasha wants to keep her around for the night, eh?" said one.

The other laughed as it eyed the human girl up and down with its dark pupils, "Maybe we'll get a turn after he's finished."

Kagome shuddered at the thought and shuffled closer to Yura to try and get away from the two before she could hear anymore of the conversation. Yura's high and mighty demeanor was more than a step above the two sleazy youkai she managed to get far enough from as they approached the archway.

The girl attempted to convince herself everything would be fine but she was failing miserably. She was in a place full of youkai with a locket full of shikon jewel shards, a tiny man was standing on her shoulder, and Inuyasha was nowhere in sight.

Maybe marrying Hojo wasn't such a bad idea.


	7. Survival of the Fittest

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: HELLLOOOO EVERYONE! So it's been a while since my last update but don't fear, chapter seven is up! I hit a busy few weeks in school so I had to hold off for a bit.

In fact I have a Japanese final I should be studying for right now, but I find myself posting this instead. Well at least if the word 'youkai' shows up on test I should be good hehe…

Anyways, thank you once again for the lovely reviews, they always motivate me to keep going! OK onto chapter seven!

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><p>Two for the Road<p>

Chapter Seven: Survival of the Fittest

The large man entered the clearing and inspected the ground carefully. Judging by the upheavals in the dirt, there had been a confrontation there not too long ago. He stalked the perimeter; over to a tree stump looking like it had been ripped in two.

Right in front of it laid the decomposing body of a youkai. From its horns, the brawly man discerned that it must have been a bull youkai. The corpse was in pretty bad shape, clearly being on the wrong side of a losing battle. The slayer winkled his nose at the unpleasant smell that hung in the air around the body.

He looked down to the forest floor where he noticed a set of foot prints leading up to the bull, appearing to be bare and similar to a human's. It seemed the bull youkai's adversary inspected the body after defeating his opponent. The slayer carefully followed the imprints left by the winner of the fight and stroked his chin in thought.

His focus turned to a smaller set of footprints that joined the other pair out of nowhere. Narrowing his dark eyes, the youkai slayer bent down. The winner of the battle was carrying someone along with them. "Maybe you are still alive…" he murmured to himself.

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><p>Kagome followed Yura underneath the large archway. The arena past it was made of stone, just as the rest of the village. Surrounding it were rows of stone bleachers that, to Kagome's dismay, were filled with even more youkai. Some, like Yura, were relatively human looking, while others looked like animals, and some others were a bit more difficult to categorize. They sat and stood scattered around the coliseum anxious for the show to come.<p>

At the bottom of the seating area was a circular ring surrounded with lit torches. Centered at the middle of the audience's focus was a monstrous looking youkai. Its body was that of a gigantic centipede with the torso of a human woman; and not an attractive one at that. Kagome felt goose bumps raise from her skin at the hideous sight.

To her chagrin, the youkai flared its nostrils and looked up at her. Kagome looked away immediately, attempting not to think of what that thing would do to her if Inuyasha wasn't victorious.

"Inuyasha has to fight that?" she asked incredulously as she followed Yura down the awkwardly steep steps, trying to ignore the gazes from youkai she passed. She found it much easier to focus all her attention on the flea youkai and what he was saying. The scene was just too overwhelming to even attempt to take all in.

"I don't think you should worry too much. Lord Inuyasha has kept his title here for a very long time."

Kagome nodded but was still a little anxious, that monster patiently waiting for him made Inuyasha look puny to say the least. Yura sat down in an area of seats relatively empty, for which Kagome was very thankful for. She sat next to the youkai, leaving some space in between; wary of Yura's far from fond feelings towards her. Again the human girl decided to focus her attention on Myouga, who was a bit more welcoming.

"So Inuyasha has to fight anyone who challenges him?" Kagome asked, scanning the area. It seemed said hanyou was nowhere in sight. The teenager huffed under her breath. Who did the jerk think he was, leaving her with all these youkai?

"Yes. In fact he has proven himself before all of the youkai you see here, by either fighting them himself or defeating the old head youkai a few years ago. That is why he holds so much respect among the youkai of these forests despite being a hanyou." Myouga explained.

"So he's constantly threatened by new youkai coming into the forest?" the girl questioned further, thinking back to his conversation with the bull youkai before he disposed of it.

"Yes. When most youkai first come to realize a hanyou is head youkai in this area they are more than eager to dispose of him. Of course, that hasn't really worked out for any of them," the tiny youkai quipped.

Kagome nodded but didn't ask anything more, merely leaning her chin against the palm of her hand in thought. She remembered the wish Inuyasha wanted to make on the jewel and a sense of sadness for him washed over her. He had to risk his life just to be respected as a youkai and there was no way he could try to make a living in human territory. Kagome could only imagine the chaos that would ensue if Inuyasha only entered a human village. He wasn't suited for either world.

The dark haired girl was knocked out of her reverie when very hanyou she had been pondering appeared from behind the opposite wall of the coliseum. Inuyasha walked into the ring with a familiar smirk that both relieved and infuriated her. In that instant, the entire arena fell into a hushed silence in expectance for the match to come. He glanced in Kagome's direction for a moment, and then focused on the centipede woman in front of him.

"So you want to challenge me for the rights to rule this forest?" The boy asked the centipede with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk on his face. Kagome just hoped Inuyasha's confidence wasn't a bluff. If he lost, these youkai would be free to do what they will with her. She shuddered at the mere thought.

The centipede gave a laugh that made the hairs on the back of Kagome's neck stand up straight. "Little hanyou," it hissed, stretching its arms and back, making several cracking noises as it stared down its opponent. "I'll rip you apart, take these forests back from you, and devour your disgusting human when I'm done."

Kagome's face paled. She had a pretty good idea of who exactly the centipede was referring to.

In a flash, the centipede charged for Inuyasha, reaching to grab him with one of its many hands. Its several tiny legs moved blurred as they raced for their target. Kagome clutched the edges of her seat in anxiety but was soon relieved when Inuyasha easily avoided the onslaught with a leap into the air.

"You'll have to be faster than that," Inuyasha yelled in a mocking tone, landing on the ground without a sound. His smirk had yet to falter.

Even though the hanyou was safe for the moment, the teenager's heart continued to pound and she felt as if her stomach had leaped into her throat. The match was draining her nerves, and fast.

The centipede youkai let out a growl of frustration and bared its fangs. It lunged for the hanyou once more, this time managing to grab unto his ankle with a deadly smirk as Inuyasha leaped into the air once more.

Before Kagome could descend into a full blown panic attack, Inuyasha flexed his claws, aiming for the centipede's offending arm and managed to cut it clear off. The faint 'plop' of the appendage landing on the ground rung through the air, followed by earsplitting yells of pain from its owner. Kagome cringed at the high pitched shriek and looked down from the scene. The youkai around her, including Yura, failed to even flinch at the gruesome display.

Inuyasha flexed his claws once more, this time aiming straight for the centipede's chest. He lunged forward and in a moment, the shrill yells of the creature were silenced, and the teenage girl looked up at the abrupt stop in sound. Torn between being disgusted at the sight before her and being puzzled at just how quickly the huge centipede was finished off, the human girl stared rather dumbly at the center arena.

As she finally processed that Inuyasha (and therefore she herself) was safe, Kagome couldn't help but smile in relief. She raised her two hands to clap, but after receiving a death glare from the female youkai beside her she decided that it would be a little bit inappropriate. She sheepishly placed her hands back on her lap and shrugged, feigning innocence. The human girl had to keep reminding herself not to push her welcome; that is, if she had any in the first place.

She heard Yura groan from beside her. Looking over again, Kagome saw the female youkai holding her head in her hands, threading her fingers through her dark hair, "Why don't you ever lose…" she complained, shaking her head.

A voice from her shoulder caused her to look back in the other direction, "I told you not to worry. Lord Inuyasha is much stronger than he appears," Myouga commented, "The youkai here may fake that they're annoyed, " he gestured over to Yura, "But they're actually grateful at how successful he's been in dispelling any humans or rogue youkai from the forest."

Kagome nodded her head in agreement and smiled slightly, amazed how easily the hanyou defeated the large centipede. She looked over to Inuyasha who stood rather triumphantly over the dead centipede. _'Great… more fuel for the ego.'_ she thought to herself frowning.

Lost in thought she failed to see and approaching Yura, who violently grabbed her by her upper arm, forcing her to stand up. The girl didn't not have time to gather herself as Yura pushed her into the aisle and down into the center of the arena. She carefully tried to avoid falling on her face as she went down the stairs.

Kagome tried not to breath out of her nose when they come in close proximity with the centipede carcass, the smell was horrible. She led her to Inuyasha, barely scathed from the battle.

"Here's your human. I'm sure she'll help you celebrate," Yura told him sarcastically, pushing the girl into his chest.

Kagome looked up from the hanyou's haori as a blush spread on her checks. She quickly pushed herself off of him in a fidgety motion.

"Thanks Yura," he told her in a standoffish tone and she climbed back up the stone steps without another word.

"You ok?" He asked Kagome under his breath.

The human girl nodded slightly.

With that he took her by the shoulder and led her to the back of the arena, "Do you sense anything here?" he asked, still in a hushed tone.

The human girl shook her head and glanced back to the seats of the arena, where youkai had begun to file out, "No, there aren't any here I think," she replied catching on that he was asking about the jewel shard.

The hanyou sighed in disappointment. "Dammit," he muttered to himself.

Kagome frowned at his disappointment, "We'll… at least you showed that youkai what's what right?" she asked smiling.

"Feh! As if it had a chance. Idiot youkai like that come here all the time," he said, casting off her remark throwing his hand in the air.

Kagome blanched; the offending hand was completely covered in blood. And the hanyou didn't even seem to notice.

Raising an eyebrow to the stunned look on her face he asked rather roughly, "What?"

Kagome just pointed to his blood covered hand without response. The hanyou turned to his hand and his eyebrows lifted in realization. His gaze settled back to her with a mischievous smile, "Afraid of a little blood Kagome?" He asked, and to her horror inched his clawed hand closer to her.

Instinctively the girl leaped backward with a high pitched squeak, almost falling over. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed about an octave above her normal tone. Kagome could feel the blooding draining from her face.

Chuckling, he continued to slowly creep to her with his hand. Kagome glared at him for teasing her. "SIT!" she finally yelled, sending Inuyasha head first into the pavement.

As soon as he hit the ground Kagome paled even more, if that was even possible, realizing what she had done.

"Bitch!" she heard the muffled yell from the hanyou.

Kagome panicked and looked around frantically. If a youkai saw the subduing, she'd be done for. She bent down and grabbed the hanyou by the shoulders, quickly trying to pry him up from the ground.

"I'm going to kill you!" He threatened at her failed attempts. At the moment, however, Kagome was more worried about the other youkai than what Inuyasha would do once he got up.

"Another victory, eh Inuyasha?" commented a booming voice from behind them.

Kagome's eyes widened as she looked up from the hanyou. Turning her head back as slowly at possible her eyes met a large tan-skinned youkai with a pointed nose. He stared back, clearly confused at the sight before him.

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><p>AN: Look for chapter eight soon!

(I promise haha)


	8. A Lead

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Heyyy there! Once again thank you to everyone who reviewed/ favourited/ alerted this story!

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Eight: A Lead

Kagome wondered how she managed to get herself into these situations again and again. Here she was, standing over Inuyasha, clutching at his shoulders, with a strange youkai looking upon the scene with confusion. It looked at her with its inhumanely bright green eyes in question.

There was a tense silence for a few moments. The awkwardness quickly became so palpable Kagome had no choice but to lend some kind of explanation, "Uhh- ok Inuyasha how do your shoulders feel; any better?" she asked quickly while still gripping the hanyou. She grinded her teeth hoping this would work. If the youkai found out she had any power over Inuyasha, the credibility he worked so hard for would be gone, just like that.

The youkai raised its eyebrow at the comment but still remained silent.

"What are you-" Inuyasha began in a muffled voice but was abruptly cut off by Kagome hitting him in the back with a closed fist.

She bent down, close to his ear, as casually as she could manage, "Just play along!" She voiced in a rushed whisper before standing up straight, stepping back over the laying hanyou and wiping her hands against one another.

"What?" she asked the youkai as if her actions were nothing out of the norm, "He's got shoulder problems…. They flare up after a fight you know? I'm his….. masseuse…" She trailed off. The explanation came off much more ridiculous than it had originally sounded in her head. Well, it was too late to back out of it now.

The hanyou finally recovered from the subduing spell and stood up next to the girl with an angry glare pointed at her direction before focusing on the youkai. "Why else do you think I would bring a human here?" He added, thankfully going along with her story.

The youkai just shrugged. "Well leave it up to Inuyasha to find one thing humans are good for," he stated. Kagome had to hold back a gasp at the thought of him actually believing her. The girl found herself drifting into the thought of a possible acting career when she was brought back to reality by the bright eyed youkai.

He stared at her with his intense eyes and a devious smirk, "Think I could borrow her for her _services_ once in a while, Inuyasha?"

Kagome's eyes widened into saucers at the insinuation. She was quickly realizing the youkai here took her for nothing better than a piece of meat, and not only figuratively.

"I'm not one to share," the hanyou simply stated, crossing his arms over his chest and edging a bit closer to Kagome. Even though she knew an answer along those lines was coming, the teenager was still greatly relieved to hear it.

"That good, eh?" he replied at Inuyasha's protective response. There was another uneasy silence before the youkai spoke again, "Good fight you had there. Personally I wouldn't want to be ruled by some weirdo centipede. The thing was too ugly for my liking," he told Inuyasha, shifting the topic of conversation away from Kagome's newfound massaging capabilities.

The hanyou answered by simply nodding and without a response, taking the comment as an opportunity to leave. He brought his, thankfully, blood-less hand to rest on Kagome's back and began to lead her away. He took her back to the large circular area they had entered the settlement without looking back to the arena.

The teenage girl felt him lean into her from behind, "I fucking told you not to use it!" He whispered violently into her ear, seething.

"Well I'm sorry for not remembering that little detail as you tried to stuff a handful of that thing's blood down my throat!" She retorted in a hushed tone.

Inuyasha snickered at the memory. "At least the look on your face was worth it," he adding laughing as his hand fell from her back and he moved in front of her, motioning the girl to follow. He took her to the entrance of one of the smaller stone buildings and opened the door. Kagome followed right behind. They entered into a small room, holding a bench near the door. Towards the back was a counter running along the wall. There seemed to be a back room connected to the area lying out of sight.

Inuyasha turned for a moment to grab a rag from a pile that lay on the grey counter, "And a masseuse? Nice one genius." He snorted turning back at her.

Kagome simply shrugged and let the insult slide, just happy he no longer seemed angry at her for the incident.

"Have you sensed anything here?" The hanyou asked out of the blue.

It took a few moments before Kagome caught on. She shook her head, "I don't think there's one here."

"Dammit," Inuyasha huffed under his breath.

Kagome frowned at his disappointment and looked around the small area, "What is this place?" She asked, changing the subject.

Inuyasha sat down at the table and Kagome tentatively decided to join beside him. "The food's stored here." Inuyasha commented as he began to wipe the blood off his hand nonchalantly.

"Food?" the comment was met with a rumbling that emerged from Kagome's stomach.

The hanyou raised an eyebrow, looking up from his hand. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Maybe a little," she told him sheepishly. It had been a long time since she had eaten at Kaede's, a meal that had been cut short by one of Inuyasha's temper tantrums.

"Humans are such a hassle…" he muttered, scraping some blood from behind his claws with his clean hand.

The teenage girl pointed a finger in the air, about to throw a retort to the remark. Just as she opened her mouth a large youkai walked into the room from the back. She quickly closed it again without second thought; she had already almost damaged the hanyou's reputation once that day.

The youkai's bulk did not consist of muscle, he seemed rather chubby. He had large protruding jowls and several layered chins stacked beneath his proper one. Kagome tilted her head slightly; the youkai instantly reminded her of a rather large (in the same manner) merchant that often sold assorted goods in her village bazaar. The only youkai feature Kagome could identify by looking at him were his unusually large and pointed ears.

Inuyasha still had not looked up, concentrating still on cleaning his hand. Apparently he knew of the youkai's presence before he had even entered the room. "What do we have here?" he asked in a curious voice from under his fuzzy mustache.

Kagome shifted her gaze to Inuyasha expectantly, waiting for him to explain. "Just a human…. My _masseuse _actually," Inuyasha enunciated the word with a venomous look pointed at the Kagome.

Kagome, picking up on the hanyou's sentiment, mouthed a word of apology once again to him, hoping he'd forget about it sooner or later.

The hanyou looked away from the human without reaction. "You think you could make her something?" he asked the overweight youkai.

At the question the youkai's eyes lit up with excitement, "A human?" he studied her briefly, "and what can I make for you?" not finding the 'masseuse' comment of any interest.

Kagome tried to hide her nerves at the thought of the youkai making her a meal. She had no idea about their taste preferences and could not suppress an image of a messy, bloody concoction that came to mind. "Um… whatever you want really…" Kagome answered, unsure of what to say.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, knowing just what that kind of reaction that comment would spark.

The youkai struck his fist in the air with triumph. "Finally! I can work my culinary skills! Let me tell you these forest youkai are classless. All they want is raw meat, raw meat, raw meat!" he complained, "When I worked for the Eastern Lord I prepared elegant banquets everyday and now I'm relegated to nothing better than a butcher!" He cried out in frustration, flailing his flabby arms around wildly.

Kagome chuckled at the youkai, finding him rather entertaining, "Please be adventurous!" Kagome offered, finally at ease since coming to the settlement. She'd never imagine a youkai willing, let alone excited, to cook a meal for her. "I'd like to try something new," she stated. The Eastern Lord sounded like an important youkai, Kagome found it safe to assume the chef youkai did have some culinary standing.

The youkai grinned, "You're a godsend! I'll make you a feast like no other!"

Inuyasha sighed as the youkai made his way into the back behind the counter and out of sight, "Great he's going to use up half of what we have in storage now that you got him all riled up," He commented.

"How was I supposed to know?" the human replied innocently.

Deciding to opt out of another fight with the human, Inuyasha changed his train of thought. "So Myouga," he began.

Kagome suddenly jumped, she had completely forgotten the little man was still standing on her shoulder all this time.

"We're going to look for the jewel shards. Have you heard anything?"

"Still looking Inuyasha?" came a familiar high pitched voice from the teenager's shoulder, "Well no outright rumors of jewel shards but I have heard about something interesting."

Inuyasha dropped the bloodied rag unto the table, motioning for the man to continue. "There is a village called Kanzai not too far from here. There, it seems a human lord is ruling over villagers by using the power of youkai."

Inuyasha snorted in disbelief. "There's no youkai in their right mind that would relegate themselves to working for human," his stated in a matter-of-fact fashion.

Kagome glared at the hanyou. He could at least go a little easy on her species.

"You have a point. And that is exactly why I don't see how something like that would be happening unless a jewel shard is involved. How else would a human come to control a large quantity of youkai, "Myouga said, mulling over the situation, "Plus, there is also a rumor that something strange is going on with the human villagers themselves. Yes. A jewel shard seems the only viable explanation," he concluded.

"Well then that's where we're going," Inuyasha stated resolutely, hitting his fist against the wooden table for added effect.

The situation sounded a bit too ominous for Kagome's liking, but she had no choice. It was their mission to collect the shards and she had no way out of it. "So where's this village, Myouga?" Kagome asked, turning her head to her shoulder.

"It's west of here. If what I hear is accurate, it is the human village closest to the border of the Western Youkai Territory," Myouga explained with a knowing look in Inuyasha's direction, "It may be wise to take some discretion, my Lord."

The hanyou looked surprised by the detail, "Near the west? Feh! I don't care where the place is, we're going if there's a possibility of any jewel shards."

Kagome looked back and forth between her shoulder and Inuyasha, wondering what exactly she was missing. "Is its location a problem?"

Inuyasha shook his head, "It's fine," he stated with some hesitation that both he himself and Kagome noticed.

* * *

><p>AN: So I realize this chapter wasn't the most eventful, but I promise the story line will be picking up very soon. Kagome and Inuyasha will be getting into some very… interesting situations starting in chapter nine! I'm finishing with finals in about a week so expect it to be posted around then. Til next time!


	9. Black and White

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Hello everyone! So I'm finally done with finals, and I promise from here on out I'll be updating more often! As always thanks so much to those who reviewed. I really like the way this chapter turned out, so I hope you all agree; here it is...

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Nine: Black and White

Kagome left the building with a sigh of content. She admitted to herself, she had been nervous about eating youkai food at first but the feast the chef had made just on her account was absolutely unbelievable. It was the first time the girl had eaten food as tasty that, topping even the feast they served at her village during festival time. She had never been so full in her life.

She followed Inuyasha outside; he wanted to get some things ready before they left his forests. Apparently there were a bunch of rules concerning a head youkai leaving for extending periods of time, how challenges would be handled, etc. It was a really complicated system that threw Kagome for a loop. Kagome stood quietly as Inuyasha was talking to another youkai about the manner, getting loose ends tied up.

The human was more than happy to leave the youkai settlement. Though some of its residents surprised her a bit, she did not like having to hide behind Inuyasha the entire time she was there. She was never one to be submissive or what have not, but she realized in this situation she did not have much choice.

Kagome raised her eyebrow as Inuyasha suddenly stopped midsentence in his conversation with the youkai. He tilted his head upward sniffing the air. The youkai he was talking to seemed to notice the same strange smell as well and turned to the directions in which hanyou was looking.

Curious, the human girl followed their gazes, leading to the entrance of the settlement. She was met with a bat youkai that came limping down the steps of the entrance. He clutched at his side, where a nasty looking gash that was bleeding badly offended his dark, leathery skin. Inuyasha immediately ran to the disabled youkai, along with Kagome and a view other onlookers.

The sight of the injured youkai strangely affected Kagome. The way he struggled just to walk tugged at her heart. When had she become so sympathetic to youkai?

The injured youkai crumpled to the ground as a swarm of youkai ran to it. "Inuyasha," it said in a painful tone. The hanyou bent down to better hear what it was struggling to say. "There's a youkai slayer in the forest…"

The statement caused a wave of murmurs to spread around the surrounding youkai. Some with expressions of pure panic playing on their features.

Kagome had heard of the youkai slayers. They were a village of humans trained to fight youkai, and were hired by anyone who had problems with the species. The girl quickly realized they must have been talented at their jobs, with the reactions a mere mention of one had elicited from the forest youkai.

"He... is looking for a human girl…" with that all gazes were again shifted to Kagome. As if the youkai hadn't disliked her enough just for her race, now they could blame her for the injury to one of their own. Oddly, this time she couldn't blame them for disliking her.

Kagome was confused for a moment, wondering why there was a slayer looking for her. But then, it quickly hit her. Her village must have hired them to get her to come back. Kagome attempted to swallow the lump forming in her throat.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, "What does he want with her?"

The youkai shook his head. "He just demanded…." And trailed off with a moan, his wounds paining in even more. The hanyou then looked up at the girl expectantly for some explanation.

"M-my village must have hired him," she stumbled, "I ran away but they must have assumed a youkai got me or something." She told him.

Inuyasha stood up with a determined look illuminating his features. "Get him healed. I'll lead the slayer away from the settlement and kill him."

The youkai surrounded the bat to get him the attention he needed as Inuyasha pulled Kagome away from the crowd. "We have to leave now," he ordered, pulling her up the cement steps and into the forest from which they came.

Kagome was taken a back at the abrupt reaction of the hanyou. Wouldn't it be better for the slayer to come into the settlement? With all the youkai there he would surely have been done for.

Soon she found herself back in the thick trees of the forest. As they left the settlement Inuyasha fell behind Kagome and began to cover the path with leaves, loose dirt, and a few branches. "Hopefully now he follows our path out and not into the village," the hanyou stated as she walked up to Kagome's side.

The young girl looked at him questioningly, "Is he really that strong that he could defeat those youkai?"

The white haired boy snorted in remark, "A stupid human? Yeah right." Kagome waited for him to explain, "But the thing with slayers, as soon as you kill one of then it's not long before basically the entire village comes looking for them. I don't need them finding out where the settlement is and coming in swarms."

"How do you know that… you, haven't killed one have you?" Kagome asked with a bit of hesitation. She had been starting to feel comfortable around the hanyou but was still a little on edge from his demeanor around the youkai he ruled over.

"Haven't had the pleasure, it's just common knowledge among youkai." He responded, much to the young girl's relief. "But after we lead this one out of the forest, I'll take care of him. It's my duty as head youkai to take care of any humans that come into my territory."

Kagome couldn't help a smile, "You really are a good leader aren't you, Inuyasha?"

The boy's cheeks turned slightly red and he turned away from the girl with a, "Feh!"

"But Inuyasha," Kagome decided to add, realizing something, "why can't we just explain that I wasn't kidnapped, so no killing will have to take place?"

The boy turned once again to the girl and looked at her incredulously, "Are you that naïve? It doesn't work that way between humans and youkai."

Kagome frowned in response, "But I don't see why not…"

"Youkai slayers are trained from birth to kill us without remorse. Just wait until he catches up with us, you'll see," he predicted.

The human and the hanyou quickly got as far from the settlement as possible. As they traveled, Inuyasha made it a point to leave a noticeable trail behind them, to lead the slayer right to them. "Hold on," he told her, stopping for a moment," he approached Kagome and bent down next to her. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

The boy tore a piece off from the bottom of Kagome's robe and before she could protest he explained, "The slayer's looking for you. This should held him track us," and dropped the torn fabric unto the forest floor.

Kagome nodded in understanding and they continued at a fast pace for a while longer, until Inuyasha deemed it was safe enough to make sure the slayer would be led far from the settlement and stopped.

"Now what?" Kagome inquired, finding herself in a much more sparsely wooded area, with a large field in the visible distance. The young girl tried determine where she was in terms of her village, but was completely clueless.

"Now we wait."

They both stood there in apprehension. Kagome's heart pounded at the thought of what she was waiting for. She paced back and forth incessantly, nervously twiddling her fingers. She didn't know how she would do it do it, but she had to try and keep Inuyasha and then slayer from fighting. She didn't want any bloodshed on her account.

Kagome stopped her pacing and looked over to Inuyasha, who was leaning on a tree casually. He didn't seem nervous about the upcoming battle at all. After a moment He noticed she was looking at him and turned to her.

"So why'd you run away from your village?" the hanyou asked.

Kagome was taken aback by the question. For one, Inuyasha was initiating a conversation with her willingly, and furthermore he was inquiring about her own past. He never seemed interested in any of the details about her before. That is, apart from her ability to sense the jewel shards.

She was about to explain her situation with Hojo, but something held her back. She couldn't pinpoint why she felt as if she couldn't tell Inuyasha about her engagement. Was she embarrassed? Ashamed?

Still not sure Kagome explained, "I just didn't fit in there. I was never really happy. The one person I could relate to wasn't even in my family," she ended up saying.

The hanyou snorted, "You _are_ weird. You didn't like your village so you roamed into youkai territory instead? Should I put you on suicide watch or something?" he pestered.

Kagome leered at Inuyasha, "I already told you I only went because of the shard! I'm not suicidal are anything- I couldn't control it!" she yelled, finally able to address the hanyou as she wished.

He pushed himself off of the tree with a smirk. Kagome could tell by his expression in was in the mood to push her buttons, "You know i-"

Inuyasha was cut off when the rustling of someone approaching became audible. Kagome swallowed loudly as a gigantic man carrying a variety of weapons walked towards them. He was huge to say the least. Kagome probably wouldn't be able to bear the weight of half of the weapons he seemed to move about effortlessly with. His dark eyes focus on Inuyasha. She could see the intent to kill that shined through them.

It all occurred in slow motion to Kagome. The man pulled out a threatening axe from behind him, lunged towards Inuyasha, and began to bring the mighty weapon up into the air.

"Stop it!" Kagome shouted, throwing her hand out in front of her. Even after what Inuyasha had said, she still believed this battle could be avoided.

"You're Kagome are you not? I've come to take you back to your village!" The brawly man said in a booming tone, pausing for a moment but still wielding his large axe threateningly in the air.

She shook her head violently, "I wasn't kidnapped, I left! Inuyasha isn't forcing me to do anything so stop fighting!"

An expression of pure confusion flashed through the brawly man's features and his eyes moved back and forth between the girl and the hanyou. "I see what is going on now."

"What?" exclaimed both Kagome and Inuyasha in unison.

"That battle I fell upon earlier, this… youkai was your savior," he said, slowly bringing his axe down beside him.

Recalling the encounter with the bull youkai, Kagome nodded enthusiastically, hoping to avoid any more unnecessary conflict. Maybe she could convince him Inuyasha wasn't all that bad. Obstinate and obnoxious, yes. Evil, no.

"And now you're enamored with him, enough so to turn your back against your own race?"

Kagome's cheeks turned a bright shade of red, "ENAMOURED? No! Its-"

The man put his hand up in the air, "Enough. Any human willing to side with a youkai is no human in my eyes. I suggest you reconsider or face the consequences of your betrayal."

Kagome clasped her hands together, disbelieving the reaction of the man. "Why are you-"

"This is your last chance," He interjected once again, "Are you turning in your lot with this monstrosity?"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed in anger, "Don't you dare call him that! You don't know anything about him!"

"Don't waste your time Kagome," Inuyasha said standing in between her and the threatening man, "I told you, people like him only see black and white."

The comment only elicited a smirk from the hanyou's opponent, preparing his stance for battle

Kagome looked down from behind Inuyasha, remaining silent.

She could hear the loud steps on the man running for Inuyasha. The hanyou reached a hand behind him and pushed Kagome back from the battle. The girl stumbled back a few feet until she felt herself hit against the bark of a tree. She looked at the two battling helplessly.

The slayer swung his axe at an impressive speed for how large the weapon was. As usual, however, the hanyou proved to be too quick for his opponent. He dodged with a grace that made it seem effortless.

After ducking from an attack aimed at his neck, Inuyasha rose up from his crouch and landed a punch on the brutish man's cheek. With a grunt the giant shuffled backwards. He brought a paw-like hand up to his cheek and rubbed the spot where the hanyou had hit. "This should be interesting, "he murmured with a smirk.

Kagome watched the fight progress from the sidelines, drowning in guilt. Of course she wanted Inuyasha to win, but everyone back in her village was hoping that the slayer would bring her back. If she had heard of this happening to someone else while she still lived in her village, she would have rejoiced the man defeating a blood thirsty youkai. She had been so ignorant.

The slayer dropped his axe to the forest floor with a loud thump. "A fast one, huh?" he commented as he reached to his belt and pulled out two knife-like weapons. He began slashing one after another at Inuyasha in a quick, repeated motion.

Kagome could tell the hanyou was having a much more difficult time dodging the quicker pace of the youkai slayer's attacks. The brawly man kept swinging at him mercilessly, and the hanyou was unable to find an opening to launch an attack of his own.

Feeling like he needed to end this onslaught somehow, Inuyasha jumped high over the head of the slayer and landed facing his back. With a deadly smile, the hanyou took his claws and made a fatal swipe along the slayer's wide back. He could feel his nails easily rip through the human's clothing, but then his progression stopped as he hit some hard material underneath. Inuyasha quickly withdrew his hand and clutched it as it stung from the impact.

The large man turned around with a grin, "Claws like yours do nothing against the armour of a youkai slayer," he told him triumphantly.

Inuyasha studied the slayer, determining what to do next. If his back was covered by the armour, most of the rest of his body should be as well. If he wanted to get a fatal blow, there was only one place he could strike.

"Kagome, turn around," the hanyou said resolutely before the youkai slayer lunged at him in another onslaught. He was not sure why he warned her, but how she reacted to a little bit of blood on his hand made him think she wouldn't take what was about to ensue very well.

The human paused for a moment at the request, but then obliged, taking the hint. She could hear the rustling and grunting of the two fighting for a few more moments, but then it abruptly quieted as she heard a small object hitting the ground, followed by a larger crash.

She felt Inuyasha approach her and stood next to her side. "It's done, let's go."

* * *

><p>Inuyasha sighed as he finally managed to ignite a fire. Kagome sat across from him, staring into the flames. She had been silent ever since the battle with the demon slayer earlier. He finished the human off without too much trouble, but the giant was stronger than he had originally expected.<p>

The silence was beginning to make him feel more and more uncomfortable. "What's wrong with you? You usually never shut up," he said hoping to get a rouse out of the human. He could stand fighting with her, and sometime he even enjoyed getting her aggravated, but this weird mood she was in was unsettling.

The young girl looked up, her face resting on her palm. "Well it's just… that demon slayer, who was supposed to bring me back to my village, was ready to kill me just because I was with you…" She looked to the side for a moment before continuing, "Why does it have to be like that? I'm realizing that youkai and humans…. well they're just not that different."

Ever since she had left the village, Kagome kept thinking about all the youkai there. The little lizard, Yura, the chef, even those two brutes she saw outside the arena displayed no actions or characteristics a human couldn't possess as well. It threw her for a loop. She couldn't help feeling as if she were lied to her entire life.

The boy frowned as he looked at her from the opposite side of the fire, "What are you talking about? Humans and youkai would never get along, that's the way it's always been."

"But why? Your youkai settlement- it's not different from a human village… Sure the arena maybe but there's just so many similarities." Kagome even began wondering why youkai and humans were separated so. It only led to breeding more hate. A hate based on speculation only.

"Listen. I told you already, you're being naïve. Youkai and humans would never be able to live together, it just doesn't work. They'll always hate each other so quit thinking about useless things," Inuyasha told her resolutely. The girl was living in some dream world to think that the world could be any different.

The girl's hands dropped to her sides, "I just don't accept that! You're parents must have-"

The hanyou's fist clenched at his side, "Shut up," he growled, "You don't know anything. My parents were both killed and they left me to deal with their choices on my own. I had nothing but adversity; I don't want to hear your optimistic bullshit." He would not let her even touch on that subject.

Kagome looked down, "I'm sorry. I couldn't imagine…." She trailed off, the two falling into silence once more.


	10. Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: All right here's chapter ten! Thanks for the marvelous reviews!

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Ten: Fear

Stepping into a human village for this first time in days was an odd feeling for Kagome. She and Inuyasha had spent most of the trip heading west, navigating through youkai territory, and the fact that she had spent so much time away from her own kind had only just then hit her.

Kagome brought her hand to the locket that lay against her chest and gripped it lightly. They had gotten a few more shards from chance encounters with youkai on the way to the village Myouga had spoken of. Inuyasha defeated both easily and Kagome was beginning to think the hanyou was unbeatable. She was positive his youth had been full of hardships, and his demeanor and fighting skills must have been derived from it. Yet she was only speculating, his past was one of the topics the hanyou was reluctant to share.

There was also the question of why Myouga seemed so concerned about the village being near the Western Youkai Territory that still was unanswered. Just another thing about Inuyasha she was left to wonder about.

Throughout the past few days, conversations were limited, aside from arguing with him over every insignificant thing imaginable, of course. Inuyasha had not opened up to her as much as she would have liked, but Kagome was still beginning to understand the hanyou's past and just why he was so protective towards the outside world.

She could only hope they found the rest of the jewel shards soon. If she was limited to only his company for an extended period of time the girl had the feeling she would be driven to the borderline of insanity.

It was almost as if he was _trying _to pick fights with her.

And with each passing day, he found new ways to push her buttons and make her explode at him. She had never before met someone so insufferable, so difficult.

Kagome, on the other hand, was dealing with some inner turmoil herself. She still had not shaken off her conflicting feelings on youkai and humans, their differences, similarities, and even the state of the world itself. The dark haired girl attempted to push out all of the existential questions floating around incessantly in her mind, to focus on the mission her and Inuyasha were undertaking, but she still ended up dwelling on whether or not things could be different.

But the girl wasn't sure if it was all of her conflicting emotions that were creating the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach or the fact that from the moment she and Inuyasha entered the village all movement within had stopped, as if time froze.

The entrance to the village was a modest gateway made of wood. It was connected to a tall fence high above her head that seemed to encircle the village to beyond what the eye could see. The pair passed through the archway, scanning what lay on the other side.

Kagome hooded her eyes with her hand to block the intense sunlight and looked over her shoulder to see two large guards on the village side of the gate. They gazed forward menacingly, with iron helmets to extending down the sides of their faces, holding matching spears that reached high above both of them. They stood motionlessly, unwavering. Kagome could tell they shifted their eyes for a moment towards Inuyasha, but refused to move or acknowledge the two visitors. She couldn't help but wonder why the guards were stationed on the interior of the gate rather than the side facing outwards. Or, why they did not question her or the youkai that was attempting to enter their village? How were they sure they weren't entering for malicious purposes? And why hadn't the presence of a hanyou elicited any response at all?

Unable to figure out a logical answer the young girl turned from the guards and took in the rest of the village. In between the modest houses and on the road that led straight from that gate to the large structure in the distance, people were scattered about, their everyday tasks suspended as they stared at the pair stupefied. A few men along the road carried stacks of hay on their shoulders, women gathered with baskets of food and clothing, and all of the activities one would expect from a normal town had paused abruptly.

Kagome could not break herself from the staring contest that ensued. In front of her was the picture of a normal village, as if taken from the page of a story book. But even from the entrance, she could tell that picture of normalcy was merely a façade.

There was an oddly oppressive sensation clinging to the place, something Kagome had never felt before nor could shake off. Even though it was a beautiful day out, the dreariness of the village seeped into her. She felt like she was drowning in hopelessness.

The strange emotion drew her eyes to the large castle-like structure at the opposite end of the village, as if it were a vortex draining all the happiness away from her. Kagome couldn't decide what it was exactly. She felt a presence coming from the castle, a presence similar to what she felt when there was a shard nearby.

Kagome was not sure, however, for the very same presence seemed to be attached with the feeling of dread and despair that pervaded her entire being. None of the jewel shards, not even the first that compelled her to enter youkai territory, had made her feel this way.

At her side, Inuyasha wasn't moving either. He was never one for thinking things out ahead of time, but as he entered human territory in this state for the first time and looked at the reaction of the villagers, he realized that getting any information out of them would be more difficult than expected.

But still, the reaction of the villagers struck him as odd. He imagined humans would run around and scream pathetically at the sight of his kind; but the residents of the village just waited. They seemed… defeated.

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered from his side. He turned to her still feeling the stares of the townspeople, "I think there's a shard in the castle. It feels….strange though. There's something different about this one from the others."

Inuyasha nodded and looked toward the imposing structure. There was something definitely odd about the village. And if there was a shard in the castle, as Kagome thought, it must have been connected with the village Lord in some way. Perhaps the rumors of youkai in the village worked had something to do with it as well.

The hanyou was torn from his thoughts when he felt a tugging at his hakama pants. He turned his head down to meet the wide-eyed gaze of a little girl, staring up at him curiously from under her long bangs.

"You're a funny youkai," she told him with a high-pitched voice, smiling.

Inuyasha scowled and clenched his fist. THAT was not the way humans were supposed to react to him, "Funny?" Who did this little human think she was? He could easily send her flying with the flick of a finger.

The girl giggled cutely behind her small hand. "Funny ears," she explained, pointing to the appendages that sat atop his head.

She was met with another growl by Inuyasha. He preferred the stupefied silence of the rest of the humans in the villager over the miniature human's antics.

Kagome could not help but chuckle at the scene that was unfolding at her side.

Her laughter quickly subsided; however, as an older woman frantically ran to the side of Inuyasha and bent down to wrap the little girl in her arms towards her and away from the hanyou. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, her hands shaking slightly as she clutched the child tightly.

She looked up to him and tucked the little girl's head under her neck protectively. Inuyasha noticed the dark circles under her orbs. The woman looked like she had been through hell.

"'I'm so sorry! Please, I didn't expect for you to come during the day," she pleaded, "Don't take her away; my husband's already been selected!"

Kagome slowly walked up to Inuyasha with a confused look on her face.

The hanyou equally had no idea what was going on, scratching the side of his head. "Why would I want your little brat, woman?" Youkai were simple. Humans, on the other hand, he could not understand.

It was now the woman who wore a confused expression.

Knowingly, Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder and stepped in front of him. She could foresee hanyou's 'people skills' only causing the situation to degenerate more. Inuyasha, thankful to avoid interacting with the strange human woman, stepped back slightly and let Kagome take care of it. Just this once.

"I'm sorry to have frightened you," Kagome apologized. She paused for a moment, thinking about how to explain why they had entered the village, "We don't want to cause you any trouble," she began, choosing her words carefully, "We only came because we heard you were having… problems with youkai."

The women furrowed the eyebrows of her wrinkled face and stood up cautiously, still not letting go of her daughter who was chewing at her finger nail, uninterested in the conversation and more interested in Inuyasha.

Inuyasha snarled at her, attempting to scare her, but he was only met with another smile.

"You mean he's not one of the Lord's youkai?" she whispered, shifting her gaze over to the hanyou.

"The Lord's youkai?" Kagome asked, recalling what Myouga said earlier. She shook her head, "No; we're both here because of that. We want to…figure out why he's using youkai."

The woman still eyed Inuyasha with distrust after Kagome's explanation.

Realizing the woman was yet to be convinced Kagome patted Inuyasha on the head "Don't worry he's harmless. And if he starts to act up," she began, and could already feel the glare forming on Inuyasha's features, "I can just sit him." Kagome said, and as expected the hanyou plummeted to the ground.

In that instant, Inuyasha uttered an expletive at Kagome, the older woman gasped in surprise, and the little girl erupted into a fit of giggles.

"He just gets carried away sometimes," Kagome offered, unable to suppress a chuckle or two herself, looking at Inuyasha. "But we are only here to help."

Inuyasha snorted into the dirt. They were here to find jewel shards. And here Kagome was portraying them like some sort of charity for this sorry place.

The woman looked up to Kagome once more, "Are you really- going to save us?" There was a fragile light hope that Kagome could see in the woman's eyes and before she could think twice about it, she nodded her head.

Of course Kagome knew they were only there for the shards, that Inuyasha would not be happy about saving the villagers. But, maybe, she let herself think, they could easily do both things. Or maybe one couldn't be done without the other.

It was with that train of thought that she then found herself being led to the woman's house to explain the situation; motioning urgently for the hanyou to follow when he finally stood up.

With a roll of his eyes, he began walking beside her. "We're here to get the shards and not save the pathetic humans," Inuyasha seethed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I know that Inuyasha, but look at these people! They need our help. And maybe it's the jewel shard that's the problem," With the strange feeling it emitted, it was more than just a guess on her part, "And maybe she'll give us a clue as to what's going on here all right?"

Inuyasha obliged begrudgingly, following Kagome and the woman to a small house in the corner of the village without another word. If she wanted to talk with these humans, he'd let her do it. He just wanted to get the shard and then promptly get out.

Kagome and Inuyasha entered the dim room after the woman. The little girl immediately let go of her mother's hand and ran to a man sitting in the corner of the room with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "Daddy we found a funny youkai!" she said, jumping slightly.

Aside from a barely noticeable nod of the head, the man didn't to respond to his daughter.

The woman turned around and offered for Inuyasha and Kagome to sit around a low, wooden table. "I'm sorry I should have introduced myself," she began, "I'm Kiyome, that is my husband," she said pointing to the man in the corner who again did not react.

Kagome gave a bow to be courteous but could not put a finger on what was wrong with the man. He seemed to be healthy but his eyes were lifeless, there was no happiness or really any emotion playing behind them.

"This, is my daughter Michiko." Kiyome motioned to the young girl who waved at Inuyasha with a slight blush before intertwining her fingers behind her back.

"I think she likes you," Kagome off handedly commented to the hanyou, who only offered a "Feh!" and a bit of a blush himself to the comment. Kagome introduced herself as well as Inuyasha to the family before getting to what they were searching the village for, "So what is going on in this village?" she asked Kiyome as she sat down at the table, across from Inuyasha and Kagome.

She looked to Mitiko with a light smile, "Honey, why don't you go to your room and play with your toys?"

The young girl frowned, stopping the her slow approach to Inuyasha that began as soon as the hanyou sat down, "But-"

Kiyome lifted a finger, silencing her daughter, "No buts. You can come and play later."

Testing her mother by taking another step towards Inuyasha, she as met with an even more serious demeanor from her; she knew her mother meant it. She looked down in defeat and stomped out of the room angrily.

Kagome chuckled and Inuyasha couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

The Kiyome took a deep breath before beginning, "It started six months ago. It seems as though Lord Naga, who lives in the castle at the far side of the village and owns the lands around here, has hired a few youkai as guards around his castle."

Kagome couldn't help but turn to Inuyasha with a triumphant expression. They were getting the information they needed.

"No one knows what brought about the change in him, but around the time the youkai had appeared the Lord has been acting strangely, it is rather terrifying. He used to be fair to the people, our workload and taxes were never harsh. But now, he has come to have no sympathy towards us at all.

"Worst of all, every few nights, his youkai go into town and take a resident back to the castle. They always return in the morning but are never the same nor speak of what happened to them while inside. You see- my husband was taken about three weeks ago, and has not spoken since."

Inuyasha stole a glance at the man. He was staring at the wall across from him, was as if he wasn't even there. He wondered what kind of youkai the Lord had working for him and what exactly their goal was out of all this.

"That is why the village reacted the way they did when you came through," She explained, turning to Inuyasha.

Kagome spoke up, "But if all of this is going on, why doesn't everyone leave the lands under the Lord's control?"

"Ever since his change in demeanor, the Lord has ordered that no one is to leave the village. He built the fence and there are guards always stationed at the entrance, not to keep intruders out, but to keep us in."

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed, "Why are the guards siding with the Lord and his youkai?"

"They're just as afraid of him as we are. The consequences of disobeying him could be very much worse than death," Kiyome cringed, stealing another glance at her husband.

Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, "And you say these youkai come at night?"

Kiyome nodded and placed a graying hair behind her ear, "After sundown the Lord's youkai usually patrol the village streets. We're not allowed to leave our own houses- and once in a few nights they choose a house and pick someone to take into the castle."

Kagome recalled something the woman had said earlier, "So your husband-" she trailed off, not wanting to ask Kiyome about something she was uncomfortable speaking about.

"It was a night about three weeks ago. There hadn't been news of an abduction for a few days so all of us knew it was only a matter of time. Each time the sun set everyone in the village would hold their breaths, hoping they would not be the next victims."

Kiyome looked down for a moment before continuing; "It was that night that there was a banging at our door. When we didn't answer, the youkai came in forcefully. They grabbed me…" she bit her lip at the memory, "saying I was to be the next 'visitor' to the castle. My husband bravely offered to go for my and Michiko's sakes. But-ever since then he hasn't…" she trailed off, unable to continue with her story.

Kagome slide on her knees over to Kiyome and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "I promise Kiyome, we'll find out what happened to Lord Naga and set things straight in the village. Right, Inuyasha?"

The hanyou snorted, "Listen. I don't care about any of you humans and what is going on with you, but any youkai that works under a human is as good as dead to me. You can count on that at least."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at Inuyasha, unbelieving his insensitivity. The villagers were suffering, and Kagome would find out a way to help. She was not sure how, or if she'd be able to, but whether Inuyasha was going to help or not she would try.


	11. Cultivation

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Woooo chapter eleven is done! I think I'm getting into a bit of a roll, so expect twelve very soon. Thank you for the reviews, and hope you enjoy!

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Eleven: Cultivation

He looked up at the full blooded youkai, not believing what had just happened. He brought a clawed hand to his chest, unable to take the agonizing feeling that was pervading throughout him. What was he going to do now?

"Come back here again and I won't spare your life, "the youkai stated calmly, looking down at the child. Inuyasha looked up at him and stared in a stupefied manner, frozen in place. He wanted him to run away? To where? How would he survive? The hanyou opened his mouth, trying to respond somehow, but he couldn't gather himself to form any words. Everything he knew what gone. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do.

"Inuyasha," the white haired youkai stated in a deep, threatening tone.

He looked up at the tall youkai once more, but still could not move from that place. He wanted to cry. But who would he even cry to? He had nothing.

"Inuyasha," he heard his name again, but this time it came from a disembodied female voice. The world around him started to melt, the voice echoing throughout him. He felt a force begin to pull him backwards, slowly accelerating.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" It repeated with more force.

Inuyasha's eyes thrust themselves open and he found himself in still Kiyome's household, leaning against the wooden wall. Kagome was at his side, leaning over her knees towards him. "You doze off at a time like this? It's sunset now; we've got to get inside the castle somehow!" she huffed.

Inuyasha remained still for a moment, gathering his thoughts and recovering from his dream, attempting to bring himself into reality once more. Focusing on the human girl, he snorted, "Better sleep than be stuck here with all you humans," he murmured as he pushed himself off of the wall.

The hanyou shook his head lightly and couldn't help but wonder if he could tell if he was in this village.

Casting off the thought as soon as it entered his mind, Inuyasha turned to Kiyome, who stood next to her sitting husband. A nervous expression was caste on her features, "Please be careful," she asked, intertwining her fingers together in front of her.

Kagome nodded, "We'll be fine, don't worry about us." For some reason, Kagome herself didn't feel nervous about the endeavor they were about to take at all. Perhaps it was her determination, or the fact that she had not faced the Lord's youkai head on yet. Either way, she was ready to try and help Kiyome. She was confident they would they'd be successful. After all, Inuyasha had handled everything that came in their way before, why should this time be any different?

They left Kiyome's home quickly, maneuvering their way through the allies and streets of the castle town. Inuyasha motioned Kagome to stay behind him, in case any of Lord Naga's youkai made their presence known. The pair moved across the street, deeper and deeper into the village.

As the sun set the two approached the castle at the center of the city at a quick pace. Making their way through its dirt streets, the pair saw no one in sight. Apparently the villagers took the Lord's curfew incredibly seriously. Inuyasha and Kagome managed to reach the outer edge of the center of town only within a few minutes. It was surrounded by a reddish-brown wall, another border within the gated town itself.

Inuyasha looked towards the middle of the wall, where an archway stood. It was open, but the hanyou guessed that they would not be able to waltz into the area within undetected.

"Let's get a little closer," Inuyasha decided, motioning for Kagome to follow. They moved towards the gate another two blocks, getting a better angle to see what lay on the other side.

"The shard's definitely inside the castle," Kagome commented.

As they approached she could feel the odd sensation it emitted more powerfully. She attempted as much as she could to cast out the depression it instilled within her. The feeling was unpleasant, but they had to retrieve it, no matter what.

Opening his mouth slightly to respond, Inuyasha's ear twitched at a sound coming from the street parallel to the one on which they stood. Two distinct voices came into range. "Someone's coming," he murmured under his breath.

Kagome stood on her toes to attempt to get a view of what was going on over Inuyasha's shoulder, and soon saw three figures come into view.

One was a human man. He was rather young but had the demeanor of someone at a much older age. The other two were youkai, dragging him to the gate of the castle. The human did not struggle at all.

Kagome wondered what kind of youkai they were. Although she was far from being an expert on the topic, she hadn't seen any youkai similar to them at all; neither in Inuyasha's forest nor on the trip here.

Each had leathery black skin and was roughly the same build as a human, both wearing similar light robes around their waists. Kagome could tell their ears were enlarged and pointed at the top and at the lobe, jutting out slightly. Protruding from the tops of youkai's foreheads were dark horns that curved and extend behind their heads as well. Their hands were proportionally bigger than a human's, with thick fingers and long claws Kagome had to say were much more intimidating than Inuyasha's; or perhaps it was merely that she was too used to the hanyou to find him at all threatening any longer.

In contrast their facial features were remarkably human-like. The only difference was the dark shade of their skin, and how bright it made their greyish eyes look.

"They must have abducted him from his home," Kagome remarked sadly. She knew she had an obligation to help him, but she was not sure if she really was ready to confront whatever had happened to Kiyome's husband.

The hanyou in front of her nodded. "Something strange really is going on here," he commented, "What are they doing here?"

"Well… they must be coerced by the Lord's jewel shard or something, right?" Kagome assumed.

Inuyasha shook his head, "It's not only that. Those youkai are Ymir."

Kagome raised her eyebrows, still looking upon the scene. "So?" she asked, waiting for him to explain.

"I've never seen one; most youkai haven't. They're known to never leave their own territory. They're very isolated and have no interest in humans, other species of youkai, or even jewel shards," Inuyasha told her, "Or at least that's what I've heard."

"So why are they here then?" Kagome mused as the youkai disappeared behind the gate.

"I don't know but we have to follow them."

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the waist without second thought and leapt up into the air. The human girl had to suppress a shriek as they landed a top the wall surrounded by the castle. Before Kagome could reprimand him for not giving her a warning, he crouched low and put a finger to his mouth, signaling for her to stay quiet.

Begrudgingly, Kagome complied and looked downward at the court yard of the Lord's compound. The two youkai dragging the human walked towards the front door. There, another youkai of the same species met them and with a nod, and led them beyond the castle door.

Inuyasha smirked, "Only one guard out here? They're making this too easy."

Kagome looked over to the hanyou, "Inuyasha you've never seen youkai like this, you don't know how strong they are," she whispered through gritted teeth. The whole situation was making her feel extremely anxious, and the sensation from the shard within was not helping.

The hanyou turned to her with s scowl, "How strong can they be? They sit in their village their whole lives."

Before Kagome could attest that that was really not the case, she was once again thrown off guard as Inuyasha grabbed her and jumped down into the courtyard. She made a note to sit him to oblivion later, for thinking he could drag her around like some kind of rag doll.

The guard immediately ran from the entrance to the intruders at their landing. "Just who are-" he cut himself off as a strange smile illuminated his features, "What's this? A hanyou?" it scoffed.

Kagome frowned. She was already beginning to get frustrated with all of the comments Inuyasha was the recipient of. She could only imagine how he must feel about them. No wonder he was so moody all the time.

Inuyasha stepped in front of Kagome and clenched his fist, "Better a hanyou than a lowlife working for a human," he snarled.

The Ymir met the insult with a light laugh, "I'm afraid you're just as simple minded as you look, half breed."

Inuyasha brushed off the comment and laughed as well, crouching down slightly. He was confident he'd shut the guard up in no time at all. But, he had to hurry; after all, he didn't want to lose the human the other Ymir had just abducted.

The hanyou began to charge for his opponent, ready to attack. He was planning to take him down with as will strikes as possible. If he concentrated on his vitals, the battle would be over in no time.

Kagome had gotten used to watching Inuyasha fight, but she began to get nervous when the hanyou suddenly stopped his advancement for some reason.

Inuyasha stood still as an intensely acidic smell assaulted his senses. He covered his nose with the back of his hand as his eyes began to tear. "What the hell is that?" he yelled.

His question was soon answered as he spotted a viscous substance dripping off the claws of the Ymir.

The youkai smirked when Inuyasha stopped his advance, "Don't underestimate my kind," he warned and lifted his hand slowly. More drops of the substance fell to the ground, "One cut, and you'll be dead."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, he had to be careful. Now, it was the Ymir taking the offensive, lunging with an arm outreached towards him. The hanyou deftly maneuvered out of the way, just missing the fatal strike.

_'I have to take care of him now before he can get a hand on me,' _Inuyasha thought. Those claws of his would make the battle much more deadly than the white haired boy originally estimated.

The Ymir continued his barrage relentlessly, giving the hanyou little room to strike back. Inuyasha focused all of his attention of avoiding the claws of the sentinel and it soon became easy to dodge; as long as he was not worried about causing damage to his opponent.

Inuyasha smirked. If he exhausted the Ymir, he'd eventually be able to end the battle.

Consequently, Inuyasha continued to implement his strategy until the youkai leapt away from him and glared, breathing deeply. The hanyou's reflexes were causing him a bit of an unexpected difficulty.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "Tired already? I could go all day. Come on, let's have a little bit of a challenge," he taunted, hoping his bluff would dishearten the Ymir enough to let his guard down.

Kagome gave a shaky exhale, "One day that ego will do him in," she muttered to herself from the sideline of the battle.

He could tell the Ymir was frustrated, and not before long that frustration would give him a gap to strike. Inuyasha was confident his plan would work.

But when a smirk of realization played upon his opponent's features, his worries resurfaced. "So you are adept at running from an attack. But what about your human?" He asked leadingly and turned, to Kagome's horror, towards her.

Before Inuyasha realized it, the Ymir had his back to him and dove for Kagome with his poisonous claw, laughing maniacally.

Inuyasha desperately chased after, but the distance between them was too great. The Ymir would get to her first, "Kagome!" he yelled, panic overtaking him.

At that moment Kagome was sure she was going to die. She saw the youkai approach her in slow motion and could do nothing but stare helplessly at its devilish smile. _'This is it,' _was her last thought before the youkai was only a few feet away, claws bared. As she closed her eyes in resignation a strange feeling erupted through her, like she was undergoing a rapid change in pressure.

And then the Ymir froze completely with a look of shock.

Kagome waited with closed eyes for the poison to hit her. Feeling nothing, she slowly opened one eye, and then the other, to see the paralyzed youkai. She slowly took a few steps back and he merely remained there, in the same threatening position.

Inuyasha did not waste the opportunity. He came from behind and finished off the youkai as quickly as possible. Kagome looked away, the hand covering her face shaking violently from the rush of adrenaline she had undergone.

With his final attack, Inuyasha knew the Ymir had only a few moments left to live. He bet down and grabbed the dying youkai by the collar, "Why are you working for a human Lord?" the hanyou demanded.

The guard choked harshly before answering, "Foolish hanyou…. you… know nothing," he struggled to say before his head fell lifelessly to the side.

Frustrated at the unsatisfying answer, Inuyasha let go with his hand and got up, looking at Kagome.

She heard Inuyasha come up beside her and turned to him. At a loss for words, the human girl gazed at him with wide eyes. He looked just as surprised.

"Are you ok, Kagome?" he asked tentatively.

The human girl nodded.

Inuyasha let out a sigh of relief but could not help but inwardly scorn himself. If whatever had happened to that Ymir hadn't, Kagome would be dead, and it would have been his fault. He wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about it. Of course without her he'd not be able to complete the shikon jewel, but he still could not understand why the fact that he failed at protecting her bothered him so. Nothing happened, and he should forget about it rather than feel the immense guilt that was plaguing him.

Frustrated at himself, he turned to the entrance of the castle, "Let's go Kagome. We've got to finish this."

Kagome swallowed loudly. She had never been so close to death before. The only reason she was alive was because of some strange fluke. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and runaway, far away from this village, from youkai territory, from everything.

She tried to gather herself, remembering that she had turned away from normalcy the minute she decided to runaway. She had promised to save the villagers and much as she wanted to, she could not turn away now.

Mustering up as much courage as possible, Kagome agreed with Inuyasha and took a step forward, "I think the shard is in the eastern wing of the castle."

"Right," Inuyasha said, and they entered the ominous building.

They found themselves in a gigantic entrance way. It had the impression of once being a lavish space, but now was barren and cold. It had been stripped of any furniture and decorations, seemingly abandoned.

Kagome shivered slightly, crossing her arms in front of her as she and Inuyasha walked to the east side. She stayed as close to the hanyou as possible, unable to shake the eerie feeling of the place. The hanyou didn't comment on the proximity.

Inuyasha lifted his head slightly and caught the scent of the two Ymir. They were headed toward the east. "You were right," he told the girl lowly and turned to a hallway, "let's go."

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's upper arm and led her further down the wide hallway, following the trail of the youkai. Kagome clutched at his haori tightly, knuckles turning white. She had the impression that something would leap out at her at any moment and was becoming more and more panicked.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and focus on the location of the shard. She knew she would not be helpful in this constant state of panic and had to be strong. She thought of Kiyome, her daughter and all of the villagers suffering because of whatever was going on in the castle. Kagome bit her lip. She had been gifted (for some reason) with the ability to help those people, so it was her duty to find the shard.

After a second, Kagome felt she had zeroed in on it.

"I think it's coming up here Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, sensing something beyond the door they were steadily approaching.

With a nod, Inuyasha stopped at the edge of the door way Kagome spoke of and leaned against the wall. The sliding door was slightly ajar so Inuyasha peered inside as noiselessly as possible. Kagome, curious as well, went around the hanyou and crouched below him to try and also get a view of what was going on inside the large room.

Squinting her eyes, Kagome could make out the two Ymir. They both approached the center of the room and dropped the man unto the floor unceremoniously. He crumpled to the ground without resistance.

"Which shard are we cultivating today? It seems Naga is having us do this more and more often …" asked one of the man's abductors.

Kagome eyes widened at the comment. Was there more than one shard? She attempted to focus on the presence of the jewel shard in the room, and whether there was anything coming from anywhere else in he compound. To her surprise, although the shard in the room was the closest and most prominent to her, she realized it was not the only source in the castle. The presence was so overwhelming the girl was unable to pinpoint exactly how many, however. As she concentrated on them, it seemed as though the negative emotions they projected entered her more easily. Unable to withstand it, she decided to worry about the one in front of her and deal with the others later.

"It's just as Ryudo said. His appetite would only grow with time," the other youkai added.

And just who was Ryudo? Maybe there was something more to these youkai, aside from working for Lord Naga, they had yet to discover.

"Exactly. Let's begin then," ordered the smaller of the two.

The other complied and grabbed the human man by both arms once again. He dragged him to a chair positioned in the center of the room.

It was then that Kagome saw the shard. The feeling emanating from it was so powerful she was not able to sense its exact location. A few feet in front of the chair was a silver pole sticking out of the ground reaching to the waists of the youkai. A top it floated a tiny shard, as if suspended by gravity. Unlike the other shards sitting in her locket, this one glowed with a dark hue.

The Ymir's victim still had yet to let out a sound when the two youkai forced him into a sitting position. He allowed them to move him around at will, like a lifeless doll. One stood behind him and grabbed the man by the shoulders, securing him in place. Kagome looked at his expression. There was no fight in his eyes. He had accepted whatever was to come of him.

The other youkai walked from the man to the shard and stood on the opposite end, facing him. He bent down slightly with a devilish smile aimed at the human. "Now tell me," he began smoothly, mouth near the shard and eye unwavering from his target, "What is it you fear?"

The moment the youkai uttered the sentence, the man's eyes widened to the size of saucers and stiffened, the youkai behind him tightened his grip with a smile of his own, and Kagome felt a change in the shard. Its energy came to life, spreading across the room and enveloping the man.

Suddenly he began shouting. "No! Please get them away from me- they're everywhere!" he thrashed about and pleaded frantically. His breaths quickened rapidly and he shouted in agony once more.

Cringing, Kagome could take no more. She moved to the door, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't rush in," Inuyasha told her. He was disturbed by the scene as well but wanted to be cautious, wary of the two pairs of poisonous claws within. He couldn't let Kagome become the target once again.

The youkai behind the shard nodded, "Not fond of snakes I see. And what else? I'm sure you have something worse hidden in there."

At that, his screaming only became worse. The human man tried with all of his might to break out of the chair and from the youkai's grip. He just was not strong enough.

Behind the door, Kagome could not take it anymore. She pushed away from Inuyasha with all her strength and ran into the room, forcing the door open. When she came in, it was as if the spell the jewel shard had on the man had been broken. He stopped shouting, the energy of the shard returned to normal, and the three youkai looked up at the human girl with confused expressions.

Kagome paled. Maybe she had acted a little too rashly.

Inuyasha quickly entered the room behind her, cursing under his breath. He wanted to avoid facing the two Ymir at once, but it seemed Kagome had given him no choice.

And she thought he was the difficult one.


	12. The Thirst for Power

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the long wait! Had a pretty rough time last semester, and couldn't devote as much time to this as I wanted to. But, this time around I'm pretty much free. Well, enough with excuses and unto the twelfth chapter!

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Twelve: The Thirst for Power

Inuyasha stood in place gathering his breath. There were one too many close calls in the battle; he was lucky to have avoided the claws of both Ymir. Thankfully, they weren't as quick as the one he fought outside the castle. Kagome's rashness hadn't done him in this time, at least.

He turned to Kagome who was at the side of the human man. She pulled him out of the chair, grabbing his shoulders to help him keep his balance. "You're ok now," the dark haired girl reassured him. "Can you… stand on your own?" she asked, hoping that they had not interfered too late.

He nodded his head, "Th-thank you," he whispered weakly, shakily standing up.

Kagome let out a breath of relief. "Come on, we'll lead you out of here," she promised, beginning to lead him out of the cultivation chamber.

"What about the other shards, Kagome?" The hanyou spoke up from behind them.

She looked back at Inuyasha with a threatening glare, but spoke with a much softer voice. "Come on Inuyasha we can't leave him in here," she argued, steadying the shaken man by the shoulders.

"All right," Inuyasha acquiesced. The human would just end up slowing them down anyway. "Let's get him out of here," he said with a twinge of annoyance.

The man nodded thankfully in return.

Kagome let go of him tentatively, making sure he was able to stand up on his own. After seeing him maintain his own weight for a moment, she moved back, over to where the jewel shard floated in the center of the room. "We should just grab it before we leave."

The approach was surprisingly difficult for her. She felt like she was treading through water, or perhaps thick sand, as if the shard was attempting to repel her from it. The physical force paired with the familiar darkness and hopeless sensation she had begun to associate with the shards of the village. With a deep breath, Kagome fought the oppressive sensation the shard was bringing on and with a quick step grabbed it into the palm of her hand.

The instant it touched Kagome, the shard emitted a bright light, filling the room for a moment, then subsiding as quickly as it appeared. Surprised, Kagome looked down into her hand to see a now recognizable jewel shard, a familiar light pink color. The sensation from before had vanished as well.

"It's back to normal now," Kagome stated, relieved. She looked at the jewel, "Is Naga doing something to them?"

"We can worry about that later," Inuyasha interjected, motioning towards the exit.

The dark haired girl quickly placed the shard along with the others and followed Inuyasha as he led her and the man outside of the room holding the bodies of the two Ymir.

Although a bit shaken, the young man seemed to be able to walk rather well on his own. Kagome was not sure if it was just her imagination, but his demeanor seemed to change right when the shard turned back to normal. His face looked fearful, but not emotionless and hopeless as it had earlier.

At a quick pace, the three went down the hall and back into the eerie entrance way.

With the village in sight, the man shuffled to the door, before turning back to his saviors with a small smile. "Thank you so much," he told them earnestly, before running to the exit and leaving the castle.

Kagome smiled, it seemed that he would be ok.

But now, the more daunting task of finding the remaining jewel shards lay before them.

"Kagome, what about the others?" The hanyou at her side inquired.

She closed her eyes to focus, trying to pinpoint the location of one of them. But as soon as she opened her senses, they were flooded with negative emotions. The location of each shard seemed to meld together under the dreary environment of the palace.

She opened her eyes looked to Inuyasha, who she hoped had some sort of plan, but became worried when she glanced at his expression.

"Intruders?" came a voice from behind them.

Inuyasha and Kagome quickly turned to see a middle aged man walking out of the darkness of the castle. His otherwise attractive face was twisted into a deathly smirk, staring the pair down as if they were prey.

"And you've disposed of my guards… that is interesting. Perhaps you'd be willing to take their place?" he offered, calmly adjusting the elaborate robes that hung from his thin figure.

Inuyasha growled, "Are you Naga?" he asked.

Kagome took a deep breath. With each step the man took she could feel the weariness inside her grow stronger. She knew he was carrying the remainder of the shards on him.

He was answered with a laugh, "Why yes. Come to my palace for a visit?" he chuckled, gesturing around him.

Kagome looked at the man with disgust. Here he was, ruining the lives of these poor villagers, and he stood there _laughing_. It made her feel sick.

"Why are you doing this? Do you even realize how sick this is?" She yelled desperately, unbelieving at how casual the man was acting.

His smiled widened in a feral manner, "Sick you say? Dear, you simply do not understand. Those vile things I rule over should be honoured they can contribute to my power. They are nothing. It is their sole purpose to feed me."

The way he was referring to the villagers angered Inuyasha to no end for some reason. Yes they were humans, but even they shouldn't be treated in this way. "You're power? You think you can better yourself by controlling them?"

The Lord laughed maliciously once again. "No hanyou. They do fuel my power, in a most literal sense. Here you two are, attempted to steal my jewel shards, and yet you do not even know of their true nature."

"True nature?" Kagome whispered.

"Feed a shard the negative emotions of an individual, and they grow stronger. The fear and sadness of the villagers only make my shards more powerful. Soon I will be unstoppable, my power immeasurable."

"An idiot human like you doesn't even understand true power!" Inuyasha yelled, "I'll kill you and end your delusions!"

Naga cocked a dark eyebrow at the hanyou's outburst, "Kill me?" he tilted his head to the side slightly and narrowed his eyes, "I am beyond both human and youkai now. You cannot kill me."

"You're nothing but insane!" Kagome yelled. She had enough of the Lord's twisted rhetoric.

"You'll see how insane I am when I finish the both of you," he warned, and slowly closed his eyes.

Kagome felt the shards within him begin to envelope him in their power, and the girl shifted towards Inuyasha, beginning to fear what the Lord was up to. "I think he's drawing power from the shards, Inuyasha."

At that moment, it looked as if something began to bulge underneath the robes of the Lord. It protruded from his sides, and slowly began to move around his body. "You should be honoured to witness my strength," he proclaimed, his body beginning to contort grossly.

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the waist and pushed her behind him. "Kagome stay behind me, no matter what," he ordered.

Naga's form became more and more distorted with every passing second, the bulges underneath his robes moving around more quickly, and his face taking on increasingly inhuman qualities. His nose became pointed, his teeth sharpened, his eye brightened; even his skin lightened into a ghastly white shade.

In a flash, the bulges beneath his clothing burst out of his back and arms, revealing several set of dark tentacles, sliding and winging their ways around the room.

Kagome covered her mouth in disgust. How could a man be driven to do this to himself?

The hanyou gritted his teeth, this man was no human, and he'd be tough to defeat. He launched himself at the body of Naga, aiming for his heart as quickly as possible.

Before he could realize what was happening, the wind was knocked out of him. Inuyasha looked down in shock to see a slimy, dark tentacle wrapped tightly around his waist, slowly constricting itself around him.

"Dammit!" Inuyasha struggled to break free, but the grip of the tentacle was impenetrable. The thing felt like it were made out of rock. He continued to thrash about, trying to dig his claws into the skin of the limb and whatever else he could to break free. To no avail, however, the tentacle remained steadily in place.

Looking at Kagome, Inuyasha felt an oncoming sense of dread. He had failed her again. She stood in front of the Lord, whose fangs continued to elongate down his lips, completely helpless.

Kagome backed away slowly, unable to take her eyes away from the un-breaking stare of Lord Naga. His transformation still continued, becoming more and more horrifying as she looked at him. His skin was almost translucent, with the blue hue of veins running under his skin becoming visible. His eyes, now nothing but a green-ish glow focused, on her unrelentingly.

"Kagome, run!" Inuyasha screamed, his voice breaking as he looked on the scene unfolding in front of his eyes.

Naga snorted at the hanyou's pathetic attempt. Now that he had trapped the stronger of the pair, the human was of no threat. The girl shivered uncontrollably when a dark tentacle, coming out of nowhere, brushed her cheek lightly. Her breath hitched in her throat.

"You think you would get away with taking my shards, and killing my youkai, girl?" She heard Naga say in a distorted voice.

Kagome was unable to answer.

Naga's smirk widened, showing off the shark-like rows of teeth he had acquired. "Such deeds do not go unpunished," he remarked lightly, waving a pointed finger back and forth.

Inuyasha was trying with all of his might to break the grip. Even if he died in the process, he could not forgive himself for being unable to protect Kagome. He struggled some more, but he was only met with an increased tightening of the grip around him. He could barely breathe.

Looking up helplessly, Inuyasha saw Naga aim a tentacle for the middle of Kagome's stomach. It retracted slightly, and then lurched forward with amazing speed.

"KAGOME, NO!" He yelled.

Hearing Inuyasha's scream, she shifted her feet in an attempt to get away, but at that moment the tentacle struck.

Kagome flinched, expecting an unbearable pain to sear through the center of her body but felt nothing. Had he not attacked yet?

"Wh-what is this?" the Lord muttered under his breath in a panic.

Kagome opened her eyes and took a quick inhale of breath in shock. The tentacle was a mere inch away from the girl's abdomen, but a blue light, acting like a shield, halted the tentacle's approach.

With all his might, he tried to drive his tentacle further to impale the girl. But, it was like he was met with a wall, and could not go any further. The blue light had stopped him completely.

"What are you?" Naga asked her with wide eyes, taken aback.

Kagome couldn't answer his question; whether it was because she herself had no idea, or that she felt like her breath had been stolen from her at the moment.

Naga broke off his gaze and began to scream in pain, bringing his clawed hands to his face.

"You bitch! What are you doing to me?" he uttered in agony.

Kagome looked down once more to see the blue light was now traveling up the tentacle and spreading outwards, slowly enveloping Naga. She could do nothing but stare at what was taking place in front of her in shock. Naga's form crumpled onto the floor, his screams still echoing throughout the vast entry way of the castle.

Soon Inuyasha was released from the large tentacle as it began to flail wildly around in to air. He landed on the floor below, and without thinking ran to Kagome as quickly as possible. She stood in the same place still frozen, so he grabbed her and ran to the corner of the room, as far as possible from the screaming figure.

Wrapping his arms protectively around Kagome, Inuyasha watched, stunned, at Lord Naga. He continued to scream violently as the light continued to envelop him, slowly becoming brighter and brighter. Soon the pair was forced to look away from the blaring scene, until the yells of pain finally ended and the room returned to the darkened state it had been in before.

There was nothing left of Naga besides a small pile of ash.

Kagome sensed a collection of- now normal -shards within the pile, but was too stunned to move or even tell Inuyasha about it. Instead she buried her head in his chest and began to sob. "What am I," she wailed, repeating the question Lord Naga had asked her earlier.

The hanyou responded by holding her more tightly to him and lowering them onto the floor. Kagome collapsed into his lap, feeling as if she couldn't control even her own body.

Inuyasha couldn't help but curse himself. It was the second time, the second time already that his carelessness had almost killed Kagome. He forewent all thoughts of pride and held her close to him as she cried. It was all he could do for her, incompetent at stopping her from her feeling this way in the first place.

Whatever powers the girl had, or what exactly had happened to Naga was beside the point. He was so frustrated he didn't even lend a thought to the small pile of jewel shards laying a few feet away, and instead brought his had to rest on the back of Kagome's head, trying to calm her. It was his fault she was in this state, after all.

Kagome cried softly for a bit longer, but when reality slowly crept back into her mind she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. She could only imagine how annoyed the hanyou was at her at the moment, acting like some overly emotional, helpless human, as he would put it.

She sat up from his chest and gave her best attempt at a small smile, wiping away from the tears that stained her cheeks. Seeing his worried expression, Kagome began motioning to tell him she was all right, but the sound of footsteps behind them caused both her and Inuyasha to look over quickly.

Their eyes were met with another Ymir. He looked slightly larger than the others, with long hair extending as far back as his horns. There was some strange kind of armour along his left arm, extending from above the elbow down to cover his clawed fingers. It appeared to be a conglomeration of several complex, intertwining patterns of metal wrapping down his arm. He also wore a bulky necklace with a large green stone encased within it, contrasting sharply against the dark shade of his skin.

He smirked at the two, and observed them coolly, "Impressive. Now I've got to start all over again," he remarked mockingly after he noticed the pile of shards on the floor.

Inuyasha stood up quickly in between Kagome and the Ymir, so that the girl was behind him. He wouldn't fail a third time that day.

The hanyou's reaction elicited a laugh from the Ymir. "Relax. I have no interest in your human."

Kagome slowly stood up behind Inuyasha. Something about the calm, almost mocking demeanor of this Ymir gave her a bad feeling. Shouldn't he be upset that the other Ymir and Naga were dead?

"Who are you?" Inuyasha growled lowly, glaring at the Ymir.

"Name's Ryudo; just came for my jewel shards," he remarked off-handedly.

Inuyasha clenched his fist tightly, "YOUR jewel shards? A pathetic youkai like you that works under a human has no right to any of them!"

The Ymir only laughed gently in response, "Work for him? I was the one who gave them to him, the one who told him about negative emotions and their effect on the shards."

"What?" Inuyasha questioned.

"You should really be thanking me. I'm only doing what every youkai dreams of, getting rid of humans," he explained in the same casual tone.

"And giving them jewel shards, making them more powerful will do that?"

"This may be a bit much for that pint sized head of yours, so I'll go slowly," Ryudo chuckled, pointing at his forehead jokingly, "Naga was a good lord before I came here, and his response to the power of the jewel shards was merely human nature. They're all the same. Once they get a taste of power, they soon acquire an insatiable thirst for more. They become hooked, and will do whatever it takes to get more. Even if it means destroying the people they once protected."

A toothy grin appeared on his face, "So you see, humans are incredibly weak. You can destroy them from the inside-out. Simply by giving them what they want. You should be thanking me instead of protecting that human pet of yours, hanyou."

"That's not true!" Kagome yelled finally, attracting the gaze of the Ymir, "That's not true," she repeated though this time more softly from behind Inuyasha.

"And just how is it not? Look at this village," he pronounced and he lifted his hand to the air, "one man's greed brought it to shambles. And if this isn't enough to provide my point, just wait. I will take down every human, one by one. Then we will see who is right."

"This stops here," Inuyasha interjected, baring his fangs at the Ymir, "I won't let you do this anymore."

"What is this sympathy towards these disgusting creatures? I guess for a half-breed that's understandable. Half is just as bad as the real thing, after all," Ryudo crossed his arms in front of his chest and a mischievous smile slowly crept among his features. "You know what? I think I'll spare you two. Just to prove I'm right. You'll see the culmination of my plan before dying, how's that?"

"As if you had the choice!" Inuyasha retorted.

"We'll see." Ryudo brought his hand to the amulet resting against his chest and it began to emit a ghostly gleam. Inuyasha looked around, it seemed as though his vision was blurring and with every passing moment the world was becoming foggier. While still oriented, he quickly grabbed the human girl standing behind him, making sure she'd stare away from Ryudo.

"Inuyasha, I can't see!" she whispered in panic. The hanyou nodded.

At this point the pair could see nothing but dense green smog. Inuyasha tried to get a hold of Ryudo's scent, but it seemed the strange gas was affecting his sense of smell as well.

After a few panicked moments, the fog started to dissipate as quickly as it had appeared.

When they found themselves in the same, dark room of Naga's castle, Inuyasha scowled. Ryudo was gone.


	13. End of the Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Ahhh 40,000 words! I think this'll be about the halfway point, guys...

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Thirteen: End of the Nightmare

"Dammit!" Inuyasha proclaimed as the smoke finally cleared. Both Ryudo and the small pile of shards were out of sight. He could not even catch the scent of the Ymir any longer.

Kagome leaned against the wall of the castle, looking down. "He's gone, isn't he?" she murmured beneath her breath.

Inuyasha nodded, "That necklace must have let him get away…" He trailed off.

Kagome clutched her fists in frustration, "There were so many shards just lying there; I-I should have just gotten them when I had the chance instead of-"

"Don't blame yourself," the hanyou interjected, staring at the far side of the room.

Kagome raised an eyebrow in confusion. He was usually the first one to blame her, no matter the situation.

Inuyasha continued, "We're just going to have to go to the Ymir homeland and figure this out."

Kagome pushed herself up from the wall, "Is it far?"

"A few days at least, they live high in the mountains, north of here," Inuyasha explained in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

He was oddly calm about the prospect of chasing Ryudo to wherever he came from. Definitely out of the ordinary for the rash and hot-heated hanyou she had gotten to know. Nevertheless, Kagome nodded and crossed her arms in front of her chest, rubbing her upper arm, "Let's just get out of this place first." Even without the shards, the building retained an eerie feeling about it, "It's giving me the creeps."

The silver haired boy merely nodded in response and began walking towards the large door with Kagome close behind. Inuyasha pushed on one them, and in doing so seemed have opened a door to another world. Grey-ish morning light streamed into the dark corridors of the castle, revealing a room nowhere near as frightening as it once was.

It was just past dawn, with the sounds of birds chirping off in the distance. Kagome took a deep breath in relief, taking in the morning. And as the fresh air filled her lungs everything seemed a little bit better. Despite her guilt for letting the jewel shards get away, Naga was gone and it was truly a new day for the village

"Don't worry we'll find him Inuyasha," Kagome ended up saying for some reason, giving into the morning's optimism. She was not sure, but the hanyou just seemed to be acting oddly. Normally, his annoying complaining or nonsensical yelling would fill up any pregnant pauses between them. Perhaps he needed the encouragement.

Yet, the girl was met with just another nod, and they began walking towards the village in silence. She could deal with a furious Inuyasha; but this, one the other hand, was more than a bit disconcerting.

Without much conversation, the pair found themselves near Kiyome's household. "We should check on them," were the first words Inuyasha had spoken in a while.

"Good idea," she replied, happy he was concerned for the family even though it would never be admitted outright.

Kagome was about to knock on the door of the modest structure, but refrained for a moment as a male voice filtered out from the home. The pair exchanged curious looks, and the dark haired teenager resumed to gently knock on the heavy wooden door.

It soon opened to reveal a smiling Kiyome. The lost and forlorn expression she had worn just last night had been replaced with eyes sparking with immense joy rivaling any Kagome had ever seen. "Kiyome?" Kagome questioned leadingly in a hopeful tone.

With a happy cry she wrapped her arms around both Inuyasha and Kagome, causing the hanyou to immediately become stiff. "Thank you! I don't know how you did it, but my husband is back to normal!" she proclaimed. Kiyome embraced the two for a few more moments before letting go, finally allowing Inuyasha to relax, "Please, please come in," she insisted, motioning enthusiastically.

Kiyome's husband was inside sitting next to Michiko, who smiled when she saw Inuyasha was back. In the same manner as with Kiyome, Kagome could barely recognize him as the quiet and sullen man from the night before.

"We're so happy that you're okay," Kagome told him as Kiyome shut the door behind them.

The middle aged man bowed slightly in appreciation, "Thank you so much so saving me. The past few weeks have felt like a nightmare," he explained in a tense voice, looking down for a moment and shaking his head. "It felt as if, during the night, a weight was lifted off me," the man flexed his fingers for a moment and sighed, "I'm sorry it's difficult to explain… But it felt as if something of mine that was taken was just sent back, and now I'm back to normal," he finished with a smile playing across his features.

Kagome nodded, "Don't apologize, we're just happy to see you all right."

Michiko grabbed unto her father's side, "Thanks!" she responded with a toothless grin.

Kiyome motioned for their heroes to sit down and get comfortable, with Inuyasha sitting as far from Michiko as possible. Eventually, Kagome got around to explaining what they found in the castle, Naga's twisted obsession with power, and Ryudo's scheme behind it all. All the while, Inuyasha sat in silence. Kagome was not surprised; he was around other humans after all.

When the rest of the village awoke later in the morning and the news of Naga's death had spread, celebrations had commenced automatically. Once again, the villagers were out and about cooking and preparing for the day's festivities, but this time in a sincerely happy manner.

It was made clear from very early on that Kagome and Inuyasha were to be the guests of honor. And as expected, while the teenage girl looked forward to it, the hanyou tried and failed several times to leave the village and wait for Kagome to follow. It took a few rounds of 'sits' and a deal that Kagome would keep Michiko away from him to finally convince the hanyou to endure the human village for one more day.

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><p>Kagome rubbed her eyes, dry from the bright sun and lack of sleep. She tried to keep a smile on her face as the villagers danced around her, drinking, eating and enjoying themselves; but she was just , as much as she wanted to put aside the fact that she had not slept and almost died <em>twice <em>the night before, she failed at being as cheerful as she wanted to about the situation.

The dark haired girl couldn't even bring herself to think about the reason why she was still alive, either. Kagome took a swig of the drink in her hands before she began to wonder too much.

As the girl was trying to keep a smile plastered unto her expression a couple of men approached, clearly intoxicated. "Kagome! You're the one who saved our village!" one yelled, sitting down next to her on the same log.

Kagome involuntarily scooted away from him while nodding slowly, "Happy to help, really…" She trailed off, uncomfortable with how the man was leaning closer to her gradually.

One of the two men still standing, albeit with some difficulty, piped in, "How come a pretty girl like you isn't married?" He pressed; ushering eager nods form the other two.

Kagome twitched at the word marriage. She hadn't lent a thought to Hojo since she decided to leave, it was more of an embarrassing memory she would prefer to cast away. "Just not ready yet," she answer meekly, her side now hurting from awkwardly leaning away from the man beside her.

But, the question of marriage and the festival surrounding her caused Kagome to become a little remorseful all of a sudden. She hoped everyone was all right, and that h**e**r family wasn't taking her absence too hard.

But looking around and seeing this little village after what she and Inuyasha had done last night, there was no way she could ever regret her decision.

Though on second thought, she would have avoided Inuyasha. _'He's not all bad," _came an almost involuntary response from within her head, and she frowned. The hanyou was nowhere in sight yet again. "Would you excuse me? I better go check on Inuyasha," she told the drunken men, honestly curious, but also happy to find an excuse to get away. She sighed and got up from her seat around the large circle amongst the collected complaints of her drunken suitors. The hanyou would have to at least show a little face for these people.

He had been acting weird all day. Maybe it was because they were in a human village, but Kagome had thought he would act at least a little bit more warmly to the villagers who were treating him so well after they heard he was responsible for Naga's death.

Just as she expected, Inuyasha's form came into Kagome's view after opening the door to Kiyome's home. "Hey," she said with a slight smile, seeing him sitting in his normal cross-legged position in the corner. He looked back at her in acknowledgement but remained silent. "Don't you want to come out and celebrate for a bit? It's for you and me, after all. I know you don't like being around humans and all but…"

"That's not it," was the hanyou's curt response.

Puzzled, Kagome took a few steps further into the small room. "Well then, you said it yourself, we'll go to the Ymir homeland and take care of Ryudo. There's no use of worrying about it until-"

"That's not it either."

The human girl was thoroughly perplexed at that point. She bent down next to the hanyou, not caring if he would shuffle away from her or scoff, "What's wrong, Inuyasha?"

The hanyou glanced at her for a moment, and to Kagome's astonishment brought his arms around her, forcing her into his chest. She let out a small squeak of surprise.

"You almost died _twice _because I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry Kagome," he admitted quietly to the girl that leaned again his chest.

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered against his chest, unsure of what else to say. Eyes still wide from shock, she slowly brought her hands to rest out his shoulders, "It's okay, it's not your fault," she managed.

Kagome did not know what had brought the outburst of emotion out of the hanyou, but she could not help but feel comfortable and safe being enveloped by him. She leaned into his embrace, slowly closing her eyes and letting herself escape from all of the thoughts that had been plaguing her mind recently. She felt at peace.

That was, until the door slammed open, bringing the loud, drunken laughter of the village into the room at full volume.

"Wooh! Look at those two going at it!" yelled someone from the next room.

Kagome and Inuyasha quickly stood up and tried to compose themselves.

"Shut up goddamn humans!" Inuyasha shouted as Kagome felt a light blush tinge her cheeks. His yell was only met by a collection of grins and laughter, irritating the hanyou even further.

She was unsure of what had just transpired, but for some reason her heart would not stop racing.

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><p>The next morning, Kagome and Inuyasha waved goodbye to the villagers from the front of the gate. Some of them weren't present (including the three men bothering Kagome during the festival), apparently still nursing their hangovers. After waking early in the morning Inuyasha insisted the earlier they leave the better, and Kagome could not argue. Finding Ryudo was essential.<p>

As she was about to turn away from the small town, Kagome took one last look at Michiko and her two parents, waving happily goodbye. All of the struggles they had faced, and the near death experiences she had succumbed to were worth that simple moment of seeing them happily together again. With a final smile, Kagome turned and passed through the now guard-less gates of the village.

She was confident they would find Ryudo and his shards. She would continue to the ends of the Earth to track him down before he had turned another human villager into a nightmare. Of that much, she was certain.

But something that _was _bothering her was the suspicious behavior of a certain white-haired hanyou.

Kagome eyed Inuyasha suspiciously and she walked a few feet behind him. Ever since he had abruptly hugged her back in the village, he had been acting like his normal self, as if nothing had changed. From being oddly quiet when they left the castle, to that random act of affection, Kagome had no idea as to where they stood. Put simply, she was confused.

But it wasn't just Inuyasha's actions that made her feel that way; her own reactions to them made her scratch her head as well. Why did it bother her when he was quiet and wouldn't have a conversation with her? Wasn't shutting his mouth all she wanted to do? And why was she so happy about what had happened last night? Why was she obsessing over the hanyou when something strange was clearly going on with her? The girl felt heat rush to her cheeks at the mere thought.

Before she could dwell on it any further, Inuyasha stopped in front of her. "Someone's coming," he warned.

Kagome looked upward as soon as Inuyasha had mentioned it, she sensed jewel shards fast approaching, "Inuyasha, they have some shards on them too," she told him, sensing it incoming quickly from the air.

Inuyasha smirked and rose an eyebrow, "Some?"

Kagome nodded, "It's quite a few… be careful," she warned, and for a second thought Ryudo was ending their search for him on his own terms.

She realized she was wrong; however, when a man and a woman riding on a large, foxlike creature descended from the sky. The woman wore a youkai slayer outfit and carried a small cube in her hand, examining it closely. With a surprised expression, she took her eyes from the cube, right to Kagome.

The large animal landed on the ground, "You two, hand over your jewel shards!" She yelled, jumping off of the animal and unhooking the large weapon strapped to her back. The monk behind her slowly got off of the creature as well, looking on curiously with a small smirk on his face.

Kagome's eyes widened in shock, "How do you know we have-"

Before she could finish Inuyasha interjected, "Doesn't matter how they do," he commented before turning to the woman and barring his fangs, "You'll be giving us yours instead."

A glimpse of surprise reflected across the woman's deathly serious look for a moment before she crouched into a battle position, "There is no way we are leaving here without your shards youkai, just hand them over and you can avoid being hurt."

Kagome shook her head in anger; there was no way she would allow a situation like this to play out. Inuyasha to killing one youkai slayer was one too many. She moved in between the hanyou and youkai slayer, "Stop! You both have no idea who you're even fighting!" She pronounced, frustrated.

The monk smirked and moved in-between the two in the same manner Kagome had done. "Wise words for such a beautiful girl," He commented, grabbing her hand and starring deeply into her eyes.

Kagome was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable, and extremely confused. Once again, she found herself contorting her body in an awkward manner to gain some more personal space.

"I would most surely ask you to bear my children if this one had not already agreed," the monk admitted, motioning back to where the female youkai slayer was standing.

Before Kagome could pull her hand away from the lecherous monk, the woman with the large boomerang hit the monk over the head with it forcefully, knocking him to the ground. "That's enough Miroku!," She yelled, "We can't leave here without all the shards! Or did you forget?" She asked incredulously, her cheeks becoming noticeably red.

"Can I ask why?" questioned Kagome calmly, putting her hands on her hips. She wasn't sure how exactly to best approach the odd pair.

By Inuyasha's current silence, she could imagine him having parallel thoughts on the two.

The monk suddenly appeared from the ground once again rubbing the back of his head with a slight wince, "Why of course," he remarked hoarsely, "You see I have been cursed, and if I do not find all of the shards of the Shikon Jewel, I will be swallowed up by the whole in my hand a youkai had not-so-nicely left for me."

Kagome raise an eyebrow at the nonchalant profession of his own fatality but Miroku continued, "Now my dear Sango is trying to help me-"

"Enough Miroku!" Sango cut off the monk, "It's none of their business why we need them; they just have to hand them over regardless." Sango grabbed Miroku by the back of his rob and pulled him slightly behind her.

Inuyasha shifted in front of Kagome once more with a smirk, "How about a fight from then?" he asked in a cocky tone. He was eager to getting back to the areas he was more familiar with.

The female youkai slayer glared at the hanyou in return and assumed a battke stance.

"Can we please just discuss this Inuyasha? He clearly has a serious need for the shards, maybe we can work together without resorting to this?" She asked with a hint of desperation from behind the hanyou.

Inuyasha turned his head back to her for a second and scowled, "I've already told you Kagome, that doesn't work like that with these people," he muttered quickly before charging at Sango.

She blocked the onslaught with her large weapon as Kagome sighed in resignation; she had failed yet again at stopping Inuyasha's fighting.

At her side she saw Miroku approaching, carrying what looked like a miniature version of the large foxlike creature from earlier. Noticing her confused expression Miroku explained, "Kirara can change forms at will."

"Oh," Kagome remarked and shifted her gaze back to Inuyasha and Sango. They continued to yell at one another and exchange blows, but the fight looked like it was going nowhere.

For some reason, Kagome's sense of urgency concerning the situation vanished and she plopped unto the grass below her. Maybe it was just the exhaustion kicking in, but she had a sense the fight would not have a conclusive finish.

After a few moments the monk joined her on the ground as well. "So why are you looking for the shards?" he questioned with Kirara sitting comfortably in his lap.

Kagome looked towards him with a small smile, "We want to gather them all and finally destroy the jewel with a pure wish."

Miroku raised his eyebrows, "Interesting…-

"Those shards are mine!" came an unexpected proclamation from Sango a few feet away.

The monk gave a crooked grin but continued, "That makes my cause seem rather… selfish, doesn't it?" he mused, rubbing his fingers along his chin.

Kagome shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all! I can't imagine what you must be going through with that… hole," Kagome said, gazing at the monk's beaded hand.

"Wind tunnel," he corrected.

"Oh… sorry…" The teenager replied in a sheepish manner, unsure of what to say.

"Bitch!" now it was Inuyasha's shouts being carried from her battlefield.

Kagome bit her lip and looked over to Miroku, "Sorry… He just gets really wrapped up in it…" she trailed off, recalling the monk's comment on his relationship with the youkai slayer.

Miroku laughed and shook his head, "It's not hard to see who that rash ones of both our groups are, huh?"

Kagome chuckled in response and watched as Sango and Inuyasha kept fighting.

At that moment, Kirara leaped out of Miroku's lap, changed into its larger form, and began thrashing about wildly. "What is it, Kirara?" inquired the female youkai slayer, turning away from the hanyou. It appeared to be frantically trying to warn her of something.

Inuyasha was about to take the opening to gain the upper hand against the demon slayer, but stopped in his tracks when his nose picked up a familiar scent. "Shit," he whispered under his breath aa he looked up into the air.

Kagome noticed the pause in the battle and turned her head to the same direction which Inuyasha's was currently transfixed. She placed her hand above her eyebrows to block out the sun and saw a figure, growing increasingly larger as it approached, coming from the sky.

"What is it now…." She complained under her breath.

After a few silent moments, the four began to make out a large, green scaled dragon. It approached quickly and as it finally hit the ground, Kagome could feel the earth tremor under her feet.

As soon as it landed, a small green youkai jumped off the dragon, ahead of what Kagome also assumed was another youkai. However, his features were almost completely human; besides the tattoo of a moon on his forehead and his long blue-white hair.

"Miroku, we need to leave," Kagome heard Sango say from behind her. Puzzled, the teenage girl turned slightly to witness the slayer running up to Kirara and hopping on her back. The creature ran towards the monk quickly, and the female youkai slayer forced him unto it as well.

"Nice meeting you, Kagome!" Miroku announced before the strange pair was gone as quickly as they had appeared, launching into the sky.

Not sure what to do as the long haired man slowly dismounted from the dragon, Kagome turned to Inuyasha. He was silent, staring back at the man with a nervous expression. Kagome grew worried as well.

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><p>AN: Sorry to end it here, but that's it for now! Please R&R!


	14. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Here's chapter fourteen! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/ favorited/ alerted this story.

Sorry if you feel it's a little short, it ended up having to be more of a conglomerate of different parts than a cohesive whole; I had to get all this out there before the story line moves forward. Enjoy!

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><p>A Path Preordained<p>

Chapter Fourteen: Reunion

Families, merchants, beggars, and people of all other sorts lined along the main cobble stone road running through the capital city. The tight quarters along the street, coupled with the heat of the huddled masses, made the noon sun almost unbearable. Several individuals trapped within the crowd fanned themselves in a futile effort for some relief from the oppressive heat. Others pushed and shoved to the edges of the side walk for a better view of what was to come, eliciting complaints of discomfort from the other onlookers.

A few more lucky individuals gazed down upon the scene from the windows of their homes built along the main street, with awnings installed above them providing appreciated shelter from the unforgiving light. From their elevated view points, each turned their heads to the middle of the capital, where a large castle-like structure stood, in anticipation.

The volume of the masses decreased considerably when a trumpet sounded from the back of the long street. It echoed to the front gates of the capital, eliciting smiles from the myriad of onlookers. A few moments after the short song, a solemn procession on its way out of the large city gradually came into view. The crowd clapped and yelled joyfully as the season of festivals was officially beginning. Those looking out their windows waved whatever clothes they could get their hands on excitedly, hollering from above.

A group of knights adorned in heavy shining armor marched in the middle of the road, their garments clanging together through the exit of the capital city. Each held a spear as they continued forward in perfect harmony, their faces remaining expressionless despite the loud cheering around them.

Behind the row of knights were two aged men dressed in white robes to match their hair, both with serious expressions of their faces as well. Each clasped beautifully decorated boxes, gilded in gold and adored with hand painted flowers in their hands, pressed protectively against their torsos.

Between the men entrusted elaborate boxes and before another row of knights walked a young woman wearing a traditional miko outfit. Her long, straight dark hair fell behind her neatly, not a strand out of place. She smiled lightly and waved gracefully as the procession made its way through the crowds.

"Return safely high priestess!"

"Bless my village at its festival, high priestess!"

There came assorted shouts from the congregations of people as she passed, all yelling enthusiastically as they caught an elusive glimpse of the famous woman. They continued to do so until the precession had left the large gates of the capital and approached the horizon, setting out for the long road ahead of them.

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><p>Kagome rushed to where Inuyasha was standing. "Who is he?" she whispered behind his back, looking at the elegant man in the distance. From his reaction, the teenager could clearly tell Inuyasha had recognized him.<p>

"He's my brother."

Kagome pressed her brows together and looked back to the man who now began gracefully approaching the two; a few feet behind the small toad youkai who had already begun his approach towards them earlier. "He's a hanyou too?" Kagome questioned incredulously, the first of many inquiries arising in her mind after the white haired boy's abrupt response.

Inuyasha merely shook his head, causing the human girl to look back at the man once more with a perplexed expression playing her features.

By now, the small green youkai was within earshot of Kagome and Inuyasha. "Now you're going to get it hanyou!" he warned in the most menacing manner he was capable of, slightly out of breath from his jog over to the pair, "Master Sesshoumaru is going to-"

Before Kagome could blink her eye the man, previously a considerable distance behind the screeching toad youkai, now stood directly in front of her and Inuyasha, "Shut up Jaken," he ordered before narrowing his golden eyes at Inuyasha's matching pair.

His nearness forced Kagome to recognize the similarities between the two, even though their demeanors were clearly worlds apart. It hit her at that point that they really were brothers after all.

"I told you to stay away from the West, half breed," he explained to Inuyasha in a monotone voice. The youkai then turned his gaze to Kagome, and the cool way he looked at her sent shivers down the teenage girl's spine. "You and your human."

Inuyasha scowled, "I'm not in the Western Territory," he snarled, in a rage.

Jaken jumped up angrily at his response, "Half breed you were told to stay as far from the West as possible!"

Kagome bit her lip at the hanyou's unconvincing excuse. She was not completely sure of what was going on, but she had a feeling the strange encounter would not turn out well.

As if on cue, Inuyasha started cracking his knuckles, and before Kagome could stop him, he attempted to punch his brother.

Without faltering his expression the older youkai grabbed Inuyasha by the wrist. His grip was so tight the hanyou could not help but grimace. "Do not forget who is stronger," Sesshoumaru warned, not even a hint of strain from the hanyou's attack detectable from his features or his voice. "I could crush you in a second, and I will not hesitant to do so if you are idiotic enough to show your face here again," he pronounced pushing the hanyou's arm away and forcing him to stagger backward a few steps.

He then turned to Kagome, causing her heart to start pounding quickly, "I suggest you and your human leave. Next time I will not hesitate to kill you."

Without another word, the youkai turned his back on the pair and began walking towards the dragon.

"I-uh, Master Seshoumaru!" Jaken yelled, frantically turning his head back and forth between the two brothers, "That's it?"

The youkai lord did not respond to the toad youkai and continued his path towards his steed without interruption.

"Oohhh," he grunted, "Next time you won't be so lucky, hanyou!" Janken pronounced before scuttling quickly behind the elegant youkai, "Wait for me!"

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><p>In the middle of the night, the only illumination throughout the thick forests of the Western territory was a small fire crackling in the middle of a clearing. Sitting around it were five Ymir, staring at the flickering flames in pensive thought. There were far fewer of them now after the hanyou had killed three of Ryudo's followers, causing the dynamic and morale of the group to change significantly.<p>

The largest of the five sat on one side of the fire by himself, adjusting the large piece of metal covering his arm.

"Ryudo." started one of the Ymir, looking over the bright flames to his leader.

Ryudo looked up from the intricate metal incasing and gazed at the small Ymir expectantly.

"Shouldn't we re-group and get more youkai to help us? We lost a lot because of that hanyou…." He paused for a moment, looking around to see if any of his fellow Ymir would chime in. They only stared back at him blankly.

Swallowing nervously, the Ymir resumed, "With just the four of us how will we manage to re-stock our jewel shards? They don't even have to be Ymir…" He questioned hesitantly. Their leader's silence ever since the failure of their plan in the western village had seriously worried him.

The smaller Ymir couldn't help but consider if he was wrong for leaving his homeland to follow Ryudo.

"Have faith, Kazuo;" the leader told his follower calmly, "We lost one jewel shard. There are more out there. In fact, I have heard the high priestess of the humans is holding unto quite the collection herself," He explained with a smirk and leaned against the thick tree behind him, "We need no more help."

Kazuo nodded, but looked down and bit his lip. Perhaps he was wrong about this quest, after all.

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><p>Inuyasha slammed his fist into another tree of the unlucky forest they had traveled to immediately after the encounter with Sesshoumaru. A few loose leaves fluttered to the ground, and the hanyou revealed a deep impression the size of his fist as he lifted his hand from the bark.<p>

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted for what seemed like the millionth time that day, "Would you calm down?" She paused for a moment, hoping to emit some sort of response from him.

Kagome sighed in resignation, however, when the silver haired boy just stomped forward, looking for his next victim.

She was unsure of what to do in the situation. One the one hand, she could always sit him. But, he was so angry from the earlier confrontation with his brother that doing so would probably only serve to infuriate him more. Plus, it wasn't as if Kagome was in any possible situation to deal out some kind of advice to the hanyou. Even after all the time they had spent together, she was still in the dark about his past and his family.

With no other options, Kagome continued to follow Inuyasha in his fruitless rampage through the woods, even breaking into a jog to avoid losing the hanyou altogether.

After looking around for a few more minutes; the hanyou closed in on his next victim. He glared at an aged pine tree with a thick truck, cracking his knuckles eagerly.

Once within a few feet of him, Kagome slowed down and put on her hands on her hips to witness the hanyou rendering another tree to his punch, a loud lurching sound emitting from it as soon as Inuyasha's arm made contact.

Kagome lent a thought as to how long he would keep this up but a few seconds after his hand made contact with the tree's bark, Inuyasha's eyes bulged open in surprise.

"OW!" he suddenly shouted, gripping his wrist in pain and crumpling to the ground.

"Inuyasha?" Worried, Kagome jogged over to where the hanyou was kneeling on the ground. "Are you okay?" She pressed.

The hanyou, while grimacing, looked at his red and rapidly swelling wrist, "That shouldn't have hurt…" he murmured under his breath. His face contorted into a worried expression, it seemed that within in rage, he had forgotten about something very important.

At the realization a look of panic suddenly adorned his features, "It's the new moon isn't it?"

Kagome tilted her head, wondering what was going through his mind, "Yeah, but…"

"FUCK!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, causing Kagome to almost fall backwards.

"What?" she demanded angrily. She was beginning to question the hanyou's sanity at this point.

"We have to get out of youkai territory now." Before Kagome could even question further, the hanyou grabbed her by the waist, draped her over his shoulder and started sprinting at an unbelievably fast past. So fast, in fact, Kagome's hearing was rendered useless as loud wind roared past her.

In a panic herself now, Kagome adjusted her body so she could see over Inuyasha's shoulders. They were already out of the forest and now in a vast expanse. After a little more time past, the girl made out a small spot on the horizon, until it assumed the form of a human city.

They approached the city and it grew larger and larger by the second at the rate at which Inuyasha was speeding towards it. Kagome wanted to ask why they were headed there, but Inuyasha was running so quickly that she was afraid of what would happen even if she picked her head up from his back even slightly. This wind roared as they covered vast expanses of ground, and Kagome was left to do nothing besides wait for the arrival at their destination.

By now several bright red colors illuminated the sky as the sun began to set behind the horizon. The sky quickly grew darker as Inuyasha continued at an unrelenting pace toward the city. It was barely before nightfall before he finally reached the town and slowed down, to Kagome's relief.

He stopped beside the immense wall surrounding the city. It so was tall Kagome didn't think even Inuyasha could jump over it. The human girl slid off of Inuyasha's back, and was thankful to be able to put her feet back on solid ground.

"What was that about, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked and she turned to the hanyou. It was difficult for the girl to see at this point, the sun had almost vanished behind the mountains in the far west.

"You'll see," Was all that she received in response as Inuyasha stood still in front of the city.

"Are we going inside of the capital?" She pressed further.

"In a minute we'll be able to," the hanyou muttered under his breath in a frustrated tone, not meeting the dark haired girl's eyes.

Before Kagome could throw another question at him the sun finally set and night came. Kagome then watched in amazement as Inuyasha began to give off an ethereal glow.

"What is this Inuyasha?" She whispered and covered her mouth, wondering what was about the come.

"Just wait," Was his curt response. There was an aura around him that grew brighter and brighter until his form was no longer visible to Kagome. The teenager shielded her eyes from the light as it enveloped Inuyasha.

When it finally faded, Kagome put her arm down to see just what had transpired.

She gasped lightly and covered her mouth with her had as the hanyou's figure came into view. He looked exactly the same as had before except all of his features were… human. Black hair, brown eyes, and blunt nails replaced the white mane, golden orbs and claws she hand grown accustomed to.

Inuyasha anticipated her inquiry eyes still averted from the stunned girl's gaze, "Every month, on the night of the new moon I turn human," he explained in a solemn manner.

Kagome narrowed her eyes from a moment in thought, attempting to be as understanding as possible. "So when the sun rises again…"

"I'll be back to normal," he reassured her, "But for tonight we have to stay in a human city for protection," he murmured angrily.

Kagome nodded. She could tell he was extremely uneasy revealing this aspect of himself, so she stopped asking any further questions and instead replied, "Uh ok- so let's go inside, then?"

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><p>AN: Look for chapter fifteen soon, and please review!


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